Library 

Institute  of  Industrial  Relations 
University  of  California 
Los  Angeles  24,  California 


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the  Internet  Archive 

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Third  Revised  Edition 

What  Is  The  I.W.W.? 


A  Candid  Statement  of  Its  Principles, 
Objects  and  Methods 


Price,  Ten  Cents 


Published  by  the 
INDUSTRIAL  WORKERS  OF  THE  WORLD 
1001  W.  Madison  St.  Chicago,  III,  U  S.  A. 


What  Is  The  I .  W.  W.  ? 


A  Candid  Statement  of  Its  Principles,  Objects 
and  Methods 


MOST  every  person  in  America  has  heard  or  read 
of  the  organization  called  THE  INDUSTRIAL 
WORKERS  OF  THE  WORLD,  or  the  L  W.  W., 
as  it  is  commonly  called,  but  very  few  people  know  what 
it  really  is  and  what  it  seeks  to  accomplish.  Around  the 
name  ^'L  W.  W."  has  grown  up  an  enormous  crop  of  mis- 
conceptions. The  press  of  the  country  has  given  the  1.  W. 
W.  a  status  in  public  opinion  which  very  little  corre- 
sponds with  facts.  For  that  reason  we  are  sure  that  you 
will  be  interested  in  an  authoritative  statement  of  the  prin- 
ciples, objects  and  methods  of  this  organization,  as  well 
as  of  some  other  pertinent  facts. 


The  belief  is  not  uncommon  among  the  general  public 
that  the  I.  W.  W.  is  a  secret  organization ;  that  it  mainly 
consists  of  foreigners;  that  we  are  an  organization  plot- 
ting in  the  dark  to  commit  violence  and  bloodshed  and  to 
destroy  life  and  property,  and,  finally,  to  overthrow  the 
United  States  Government !  There  are  large  and  powerful 
organizations  in  this  country  which  make  it  their  special 
business  to  create  such  misconceptions  about  the  I.  W.  W. 

The  I.  W.  W.  has  absolutely  nothing  to  do  with  political 
revolution  nor  with  political  action  of  any  kind,  as  you  will 
easily  understand  when  you  have  read  further.  We  do 


I.    THE  I.  W.  W. 


SOME  MISCONCEPTIONS  OF  THE  I.  W.  W. 


1495593 


not  ask  a  man  what  his  politics  are  no  more  than  we  ask 
him  what  his  religion  is  or  what  the  color  of  his  skin  is. 
That  does  not  interest  us.  We  have  cancelled  all  such  classi- 
fications of  our  fellowmen.  In  fact,  so  disinterested  are 
we,  as  an  organization,  in  political,  religious  or  race  prob- 
lems that  we  prohibit  all  such  propaganda  within  our  or- 
ganization, as  tending  to  distract  attention  from  our  ob- 
jects and  conducive  to  strife  and  disruption. 

We  classify,  instead,  our  fellowmen  according  to  their 
economic  status  in  society  into  a  capitalist  or  parasite  class 
and  a  working  class.  We  center  our  attention  upon  a  ques- 
tion that  equally  concerns  everybody,  namely,  the  economic 
question,  paying  passing  attention  to  other  questions  only 
when  other  currents  cross  our  path  and  interfere  with  our 
work,  or  for  purely  educational  purposes,  but  never  in  order 
to  make  propaganda  for  one  party,  creed,  or  race  in  prefer- 
ence to  some  other. 

THE  I.  W.  W.  IS  A  REVOLUTIONARY  LABOR  UNION 

The  initiative  in  the  forming  of  the  1.  W.  W.  was  taken 
in  1904,  but  the  formation  of  the  new  labor  union  was 
accomplsihed  at  a  great  convention  in  Chicago  in  1905, 
when  the  principles,  objects,  methods  and  structure  of 
the  organization  were  laid  down  and  adopted,  having  re- 
mained unchanged  unto  this  very  day  in  all  essential  fea- 
tures. The  I.  W.  W.  was  made  into  a  labor  union  then,  and 
has  remained  so  to  this  day.  Anyone  who  tries  to  tell  you 
anything  else  is  misrepresenting  it.  The  members  of  this 
economic  movement  have  not  their  eyes  riveted  on  the 
government  buildings,  like  the  political  parties,  but  on 
the  factories,  the  mills,  the  shops  and  the  other  places  of 
production  and  distribution.  We  draw  no  lines  of  distinc- 
tion between  the  native  American  entitled  to  a  vote  and  the 
foreigner  who  is  not.  Every  one  who  works  for  wages, 
whether  man,  woman  or  child,  is  eligible  to  membership 
and  permitted  to  vote  in  the  union. 

THE  I.  W.  W.  IS  AN  INDUSTRIAL  WORLD  UNION 

The  founders  of  this  now  world  famous  labor  union 
gave  it  the  name  of  THE  INDUSTRIAL  WORKERS  OF 
THE  WORLD,  thereby  indicating  that  the  aim  of  the  or- 
ganization would  be  to  unite  all  the  industrial  workers 
of  the  world  into  one  body.  That  object  has  not  yet  been 
realized,  but  the  boundaries  of  its  influence  are  far-flung. 


Administrations  have  been  formed  in  England,  Australia 
and  South  Africa;  in  Mexico,  Argentina  and  Chile;  in 
Scandinavia  and  in  other  countries.  The  I.  W.  W.'s  chief 
claim  to  being  a  world  union  is,  however,  based  on  the 
fact  that  we  have  exerted  a  very  strong  influence  on  other 
labor  organizations  and  caused  them  to  adopt  our  pro- 
gram in  spirit  or  in  letter. 

Although  the  present  dues-paying  membership  is  less 
than  100,000  in  U.  S.  A.,  we  are  a  mighty  world  power,  j 
Over  one  million  cards  have  been  issued  and  our  members 
are  now  scattered  in  every  country  under  the  sun.  You  find 
them  in  the  coal  mines  in  Spitzbergen,  close  to  the  North 
Pole.  You  find  them  in  the  whaling  stations  in  South 
Georgia,  away  towards  the  South  Pole.  You  find  them  in 
every  ship  that  sails  the  oceans,  carrying  the  seed  of  our 
propaganda  with  them  to  every  port  and  planting  it  in  fer- 
tile soil  on  distant  shores. 

At  the  present  time,  when  all  other  social  theories  and 
movements  have  failed,  and  give  no  promise  for  the  future, 
the  I.  W.-W.  stands  alone  in  the  workers'  thought  through- 
out the  world  as  the  master  of  the  situation.  In  that  sense 
the  ideal  of  the  founders  has  been  realized.  It  now  re- 
mains to  transplant  the  idea  from  the  worker's  brain  into 
the  soil  of  industrial  life,  and  the  idea  of  the  founders  will 
be  a  complete  reality.  With  the  aid  of  the  industrial 
unionists  in  other  countries  we  hope  to  realize  this  plan  in 
the  near  future  by  forming  an  Industrial  International. 


5 


II.    I.  W.  W.  HISTORY  WRITTEN  IN  BLOOD 

From  the  start  the  I.  W.  W.  consisted  largely  of  West- 
ern miners,  metal  workers,  railroad  men  and  migratory 
workers.  In  the  course  of  the  years  it  has  extended  its 
activity  to  a  number  of  industries  and  has  at  the  present  I 
time  29  Industrial  Unions  of  a  national  scope,  and  one  of 
these,  the  Marine  Transport  Workers'  Industrial  Union,  is  \ 
even  now  reaching  out  for  international  control.  These  you 
will  find  enumerated  further  on.  A  large  part  of  the  mem- 
bership consists  of  migratory  workers,  and  the  strongest 
unions  are  those  formed  by  the  miners,  the  lumber  work- 
ers, the  agricultural  workers,  the  construction  workers,  the 
marine  transport  workers,  the  metal  workers,  the  textile 
workers  and  the  railroad  workers. 

The  organization  has  conducted  many  great  and  small 
strikes  in  many  industries  with  varying  success  in  the  past, 
but  recently  with  very  great  success.  Particularly  success- 
ful the  I.  W.  W.  has  been  in  improving  the  lot  of  the 
migratory  worker  in  the  agricultural,  mining  and  lumber- 
ing industries,  and  the  marine  transport  workers' and  the 
textile  workers  have  also  gained  great  advantages  under 
the  I.  W.  W.  banner.  Before  the  advent  of  the  I.  W.  W. 
and  during  its  earliest  stages,  the  lot  of  the  migratory 
workers,  who  roamed  over  the  country  with  their  blankets 
on  their  backs,  was  desperate.  Once  a  man  had  dropped 
down  into  their  ranks  there  was  little  or  no  hope  for  him 
to  ever  rise  to  his  feet  again  socially.  He  was  actually 
down  and  out.  It  is  different  today — thanks  to  the  I.  W. 
W.  These  workers  have  now  both  hope,  self-respect  and 
power  through  their  organization.  But  we  cannot  go  into 
details  in  this  brief  statement. 

Naturally,  the  main  activity  of  the  organization  up  to 
date  has  been  of  an  educational  nature.  In  the  carrying 
out  of  this  work  the  organization  has  on  several  occasions 
come  into  conflict  with  the  authorities  on  the  issue  of  free 
speech,  free  press  and  free  assemblage. 

10,000  PUT  IN  JAIL 

If  we  were  to  publish  the  names  of  all  the  I.  W.  W. 
members  who  have  been  put  in  jail  since  its  inception,  it 
would  fill  a  book  as  large  as  the  telephone  directory  of  a 
large  city.  Over  1,000  members  were  thrown  in  jail  dur- 
ing the  free  speech  fights  which  have  been  forced  upon 

6 


the  I.  W.  W.  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  About  900 
I.  W.  W.  members  were  arrested  during  the  textile  strike 
in  Lawrence,  Mass.,  in  1912.  About  100  members  a  little 
later  in  Little  Falls,  N.  Y.  (1912-1913).  Eighteen  hundred 
L  W.  W.  members  were  incarcerated  during  the  textile 
strike  in  Paterson,  N.  J.  Eleven  hundred  and  sixty-four 
men,  mostly  L  W.  W.,  were  kidnapped  and  forcibly  "de- 
ported'' from  Bisbee,  Ariz.,  in  1917  and  kept  in  stockade 
for  months  without  a  semblance  of  legal  procedure.  Thou- 
sands of  members  of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners 
were  thrown  in  jail  while  that  organization  was  part  of 
the  L  W.  W.  In  1920  a  partial  list  was  compiled  of  mem- 
bers thrown  in  jail  since  the  beginning  of  the  war.  That 
list  showed  1,327  names.  Since  then  there  has  been  a  con- 
stant stream  of  our  members  through  the  jail  doors.  Only 
recently  450  L  W.  W.  men  were  arrested  in  Portland,  Ore., 
for  no  valid  reason.  At  present  there  are  still  a  couple  of 
hundred  men  behind  the  walls,  some  of  them  serving  life 
sentences,  others  condemned  to  five,  ten,  fifteen  or  twenty 
years  at  hard  labor  in  the  penitentiaries — all  because  of 
their  activities  in  the  L  W.  W.  The  total  number  of  L  W. 
W.  members  imprisoned  since  1905  is  more  than  10,000. 

OUTSIDE  THE  SOCIAL  PALE 

A  score  of  L  W.  W.  members,  or  more,  have  been  foully 
murdered  by  our  enemies  and  their  tools. 

Outside  of  these  major  crimes  against  our  members 
there  are  innumerable  other  crimes  that  have  been  com- 
mitted against  us,  either  in  the  name  of  "law  and  order'' 
or  without  official  sanction. 

I.  W.  W.  members  have  been  tarred  and  feathered,  de- 
ported, beaten,  denied  the  right  of  citizenship,  exiled, 
have  had  their  homes  invaded,  have  had  their  property 
and  papers  seized,  have  been  denied  the  privilege  of  de- 
fense, have  been  held  in  exorbitant  bail,  have  been  sub- 
jected to  involuntary  servitude,  have  been  kidnapped, 
have  been  subjected  to  cruel  and  unusual  punishment, 
have  been  framed  and  unjustly  accused,  have  been  exces- 
sively fined,  have  died  in  jail  waiting  for  trial,  have  been 
driven  insane  through  persecution,  have  been  denied  the 
use  of  the  mails,  have  been  denied  the  right  of  free  press, 
free  speech  and  free  assembly,  and  have  been  denied 
every  other  privilege  guaranteed  by  the  Bill  of  Rights. 

7 


I.  W.  W.  members  have  been  denied  the  inherent  rights 
proclaimed  by  the  Declaration  of  Independence — life,  lib- 
erty and  pursuit  of  happiness. 

1.  W.  W.  halls,  offices  and  headquarters  have  been 
raided  without  warrant  of  law. 

L  W.  W.  property,  books,  pamphlets,  stamps,  literature 
and  office  fixtures  have  been  unlawfully  seized  or  de- 
stroyed. 

I.  W.  W.  SURVIVES  BECAUSE  IT  RESTS  ON  THE  BEDROCK 
OF  ECONOMIC  NECESSITY 

It  is  easy  to  understand  that  only  men  and  women  of 
courage  and  conviction  will  voluntarily  join  such  an  or- 
ganization. But  the  majority  do  not  join  it  voluntarily. 
They  are  swept  into  it  by  hunger,  suffering,  poverty,  mis- 
ery and  despair,  just  as  the  river  banks  are  swept  away 
by  the  turbulent  river  and  carried  to  the  sea.  The  turbu- 
lent river  of  collapsing  capitalism  is  furnishing  the  mem- 
bership to  the  I.  W.  W. 

Thus  the  terrible  persecution  has  failed  in  its  attempt 
to  suppress  or  extinguish  the  I.  W.  W.  On  the  contrary, 
our  teachings  spread  like  a  prairie  fire,  which  neither 
blood  nor  violence  can  put  out.  For  every  hundred  mem- 
bers put  in  jail,  tens  of  thousands  step  forward  to  join 
and  cheer  with  their  presence  those  who  are  fighting  the 
battle. 

^  This  very  fact,  it  seems  to  us,  should  indicate  to  the  out- 
side world,  that  there  is  a  great  natural  force  back  of  this 
movement,  and  that  it  is  just  as  stupid  to  persecute  us,  as 
it  was  for  Xerxes,  the  Persian  king  of  antiquity,  to  have 
his  soldiers  whip  and  lash  and  chain  the  waves  of  the  Bos- 
porus, in  order  that  they  might  subside  and  allow  his 
army  to  pass.  This  natural  force,  economic  necessity,  gives 
to  our  movement  an  intellectual  and  moral  power  that  no 
gallows  can  kill,  no  prisons  subdue.  Even  the  most  bigoted 
of  our  enemies  should  understand  that,  in  order  to  sur- 
vive such  a  terrible  ordeal,  our  organization  must  have 
back  of  it  a  fundamental  truth  which  cannot  with  impun- 
ity be  ignored,  but  which  should  be  investigated.  The 
people  are  accepting  our  principles  as  a  message  of  salva- 
tion m  spite  of  all  personal  danger  to  them.  What  won- 
derful principles  can  these  be?  They  are  expressed  in  the 
Preamble  to  our  Constitution  and  are  as  follows: 

8 


III.    PREAMBLE  OF  THE 
INDUSTRIAL  WORKERS  OF  THE  WORLD 


The  working  class  and  the  employing  class  have  nothing  in 
common.  There  can  be  no  peace  as  long  as  hunger  and  want 
are  found  among  millions  of  the  working  people  and  the  few, 
who  make  up  the  employing  class,  have  all  the  good  things 
of  life. 

Between  these  two  classes  a  struggle  must  go  on  until  the 
workers  of  the  world  organize  as  a  class,  take  possession  of 
the  earth  and  the  machinery  of  production,  and  abolish  the 
wage  system. 

We  find  that  the  centering  of  the  management  of  indus- 
tries into  fewer  and  fewer  hands  makes  the  trade  unions  un- 
able to  cope  with  the  ever  growing  power  of  the  employing 
class.  The  trade  unions  foster  a  state  of  affairs  which  allows 
one  set  of  workers  to  be  pitted  against  another  set  of  workers 
in  the  same  industry,  thereby  helping  to  defeat  one  another  in 
wage  wars.  Moreover,  the  trade  unions  aid  the  employing  class 
to  mislead  the  workers  into  the  belief  that  the  working  class 
have  interests  in  common  with  their  employers. 

These  conditions  can  be  changed  and  the  interests  of  the 
working  class  upheld  only  by  an  organization  formed  in  such 
a  way  that  all  its  members  in  any  one  industry,  or  in  all  indus- 
tries if  necessary,  cease  work  whenever  a  strike  or  lockout  is 
on  in  any  department  thereof,  thus  making  an  injury  to  one 
an  injury  to  all. 

Instead  of  the  conservative  motto,  "A  fair  day's  wage  for  a 
fair  day's  work,"  we  must  inscribe  on  our  banner  the  revolu- 
tionary watchword,  "Abolition  of  the  wage  system." 

It  is  the  historic  mission  of  the  working  class  to  do  away 
with  capitalism.  The  army  of  production  must  be  organized, 
not  only  for  the  everyday  struggle  with  capitalists,  but  also  to 
carry  on  production  when  capitalism  shall  have  been  over- 
thrown. By  organizing  industrially  we  are  forming  the  struc- 
ture of  the  new  society  within  the  shell  of  the  old. 


9 


IV.    THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  I.  W.  W. 

In  accordance  with  this  declaration  of  principles  the 
I.  W.  W.  proposes  to  organize  all  the  productive  human 
forces,  in  this  and,  eventually,  in  other  countries,  that  is, 
all  workers  with  hand  and  brain,  industrially,  into  Indus- 
trial Unions,  Industrial  Union  Branches  in  the  shops,  and 
Industrial  Councils.  We  shall  later  enumerate  the  main 
divisions  of  the  new  society  we  propose  to  organize. 

INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM  AND  CRAFT  UNIONISM  COMPARED 

To  organize  industrially  was  an  idea  that  was  born  as 
a  negation  of  or  as  a  reaction  against  the  old  craft  form 
of  organization.  To  organize  craft  unions  means  to  organ- 
ize units  of  those  who  use  the  same  tools,  carpenters  by 
themselves,  painters  by  themselves,  engineers  by  them- 
selves, boilermakers  by  themselves,  etc.  Thus  you  get  as 
many  different  unions  as  you  have  kinds  of  tool  chests. 
This  kind  of  unionism  separates  the  workers  in  an  indus- 
try into  as  many  unions  as  there  are  crafts  employed  and 
thus  builds  fences  between  the  workers  rubbing  elbows 
daily,  instead  of  uniting  them. 

To  illustrate,  let  us  use  an  American  shipyard  as  an  ex- 
ample. 

In  a  shipyard  where  they  are  building  iron  ships,  there 
are  some  forty  different  trades  or  occupations,  more  or 
less.  We  will  enumerate  some  of  them.  There  are  the 
shipfitters,  who  cut  the  plate,  there  are  the  boilermakers, 
the  machinists,  the  engineers,  the  electricians,  the  plumb- 
ers, the  steamfitters,  the  asbestos  workers,  the  ship  car- 
penters, the  joiners,  the  caulkers,  the  painters,  the  riggers, 
and  so  on.  According  to  the  craft  union  plan  there  will 
be  a  separate  "international"  union  for  each  such  trade, 
having  nothing  in  common  with  the  rest,  except  that  they 
pay  per  capita  tax  to  a  common  headquarters.  Some  of 
these  40  trades  may  have  gotten  together  in  one  "interna- 
tional"  craft  union,  but  as  a  rule  each  shipyard  in  America 
counts  a  great  number  of  such  craft  unions.  These  craft 
unions  in  the  same  yard  are  frequently  at  outs  with  one  an- 
other, and  when  discontent  boils  over  it  is  nothing  unusual 
for  them  to  strike  one  at  a  time,  one  union  thus  being  de- 
feated by  the  others  who  are  not  on  strike,  as  our  Pre- 
amble says.  Most  everyone  who  has  worked  in  American 
shipyards  recognizes  this  description  as  correct.  But  what 


is  more,  it  fits  practically  all  other  industries,  organized 
by  craft  unions.  This  is  what  we  call  ''organized  scab- 
bery."  It  leaves  the  workers  at  the  mercy  of  the  employ- 
ers. Those  craft  fences  which  cut  the  yard  up  into  a  score 
or  more  craft  conscious  groups,  eyeing  one  another  with 
suspicious  glances,  are  just  what  he  needs  to  keep  the 
wages  low,  the  workday  long  and  conditions  bad.  We 
will  not  here  go  into  other  bad  features  of  craft  union- 
ism in  detail.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the  1.  W.  W.  sprang 
into  existence  partly  as  a  reaction  against  such  intolerable 
and  irrational  conditions.  ^  — 

Add  to  this  the  complete  lack  of  idealism  that  charac-/ 
terizes  craft  unionism  in  all  countries,  their  acceptance  of 
capitalism  and  wage  labor  as  a  finality,  their  failure  to 
hold  out  any  hope  for  the  future  to  the  workers  as  a  class 
and  their  tendency  to  organize  so-called  labor  trusts  with 
a  view  to  shutting  off  outsiders  from  work  rather  than^ 
solving  the  problems  of  life  for  the  masses,  and  you  have 
the  background  against  which  the  Preamble  of  the  I.  W. 
W.  constitution  was  written. 

The  way  the  new  union  movement  proposed  to  set  all 
these  things  right  was  through  industrial  organization,  as 
stated  above. 

Let  us  return  to  the  example  of  the  shipyard,  in  order 
to  show  what  a  typical  industrial  organization  would  look 

like.  The  first  thing  the  I.  W.  W.  does  in  a  craft  union 
yard,  when  it  has  a  chance,  is  to  tear  down  those  fences 
which  separate  the  crafts.  It  takes  away  the  craft  union 
cards  of  the  boilermaker,  the  engineer,  the  plumber,  the 
carpenter,  the  painter,  etc.,  and  tells  them:  'Tou  are  now 
no  longer  divided  as  boilermakers,  engineers,  plumbers, 
carpenters  and  painters.  You  are  now  united  as  shipbuild- 
ing workers,  all  of  you,  every  person  employed  in  this 
yard  and  all  other  yards.  Instead  of  having  twenty  or 
thirly  unions  in  this  and  in  other  yards  we  shall  hence- 
forth have  only  one  union,  The  Shipbuilding  Workers' 
Industrial  Union.'  Each  yard  forms  a  branch  of  that 
union,  and  in  that  branch  we  shall  have  the  necessary 
councils  or  committees  to  secure  co-operation  between  the 
workers  of  the  different  departments  of  the  yard." 

In  this  manner  all  the  workers  of  the  yard  will  form  one 
unified  body;  all  the  yards  of  the  country,  and  eventually  of 
the  whole  world,  will  form  one  Industrial  Union,  and  the 

11 


workers  ©f  that  industry  will  thus  be  united  for  common 
action.  There  will  also  be  Industrial  Councils  for  each 
shipbuilding  center.  After  that  there  will  be  no  such  a 
thing  as  one  group  of  workers  remaining  at  work  when 
another  group  is  on  strike,  thus  defeating  one  another. 
When  they  strike,  they  will  all  strike  together  and  win. 
Thus  argue  those  industrial  unionists  who  in  the  indus- 
trial union  see  mainly  a  superior  instrument  of  warfare  for 
battle  with  the  employer. 

IMMEDIATE  AND  ULTIMATE  OBJECT  OF  THE  I.  W.  W. 

The  object  of  the  Industrial  Union  is  twofold. 

The  first  object,  for  the  present,  of  the  Industrial  Union, 
is  to  serve  as  a  militant  organ  in  the  daily  struggle  with 
the  employing  class  for  higher  wages,  shorter  hours  and 
better  conditions.  This  needs  no  further  explanation,  ex- 
cept to  state  that  we  maintain  that  the  Industrial  Union, 
by  uniting  all  workers  in  one  body,  is  a  much  better  fight- 
ing organ  for  this  purpose  than  the  craft  union  ever  can 
be,  being  that  the  latter  includes  only  the  members  of 
one  craft. 

Our  second  object  is  to  have  the  Industrial  Union 
serve  as  a  means  of  taking  over  the  industry  by  the  work- 
ers and  to  function  as  a  productive  or  distributive  organ 
"when  capitalism  shall  have  been  overthrown,"  or  shall 
have  ceased  to  function,  i.  e.,  collapsed.  And  as  this  col- 
lapse progresses  the  second  object  overshadows  the  first. 

THE  COLLAPSE  OF  CAPITALISM 

We  hold  that  the  capitalist  system  of  production  and 
distribution  is  in  a  state  of  serious  breakdown  throughout 
the  world,  this  country  included,  in  spite  of  the  present 
hectic  flush  on  its  cheeks,  and  we  consider  it  doubtful  if 
the  system  will  be  able  to  get  on  its  feet  again  as  it  has 
after  every  preceding  crisis.  The  old  organs  do  not  func- 
tion. The  world  is  in  a  state  of  bankruptcy.  It  appears 
that  billions  of  dollars  will  soon  have  to  be  written  off  the 
books  of  the  world's  capitalist  class  as  a  complete  loss,  and 
we  know  what  that  means  to  those  who  have  nothing  but 
their  labor  power  to  sell. 

The  old  organs  of  production,  i.  e.,  the  private  owner 
with  his  usually  small  establishment,  the  stock  company, 
the  trust,  the  combination  of  trusts,  seem  no  longer  to  be 

^  12 


able  to  supply  the  needs  of  men.  Hundrede  of  millions  of 
people  have  to  go  without  the  bare  necessities  in  all  parts 
of  the  world,  because  they  have  no  access  to  the  soil  or 
other  natural  resources  or  the  industrial  and  commercial 
machinery.  The  necessities  of  life  are  getting  beyond  the 
reach  of  ever  greater  masses  of  the  people,  who  are  becom- 
ing desperate  and  threaten  to  blindly  smash  the  system. 
Insurrections,  riots,  race  wars,  lynchings,  military  law,  ter- 
rorism and  great  strikes  have  been  the  order  of  the  day 
in  many  parts  of  the  world  for  some  time  past,  and  par- 
ticularly in  America.  Furthermore,  there  has  been  pro- 
tracted unemployment  on  a  scale  hitjierto  unknown,  though 
temporarily  somewhat  relieved  in  1922-1923.  Poverty  and 
misery  are  driving  people  to  despair. 

All  these  social  phenomena  are  symptoms  of  the  pro- 
gressive collapse  of  capitalism.  Conditions  in  Europe  and 
elsewhere  warrant  the  belief  that  a  final  crash  is  impend- 
ing when  capitalist  credit  shall  be  completely  deranged, 
and,  as  a  result,  nearly  all  industrial  enterprises  shall  be 
shut  down.  At  least  these  terrible  possibilities  are  not  ex- 
cluded, as  the  capitalist  press  admits. 

Thus  economic  insecurity  and  worry  for  the  present  and 
the  future  are  making  life  unbearable  to  millions.  They 
feel  that  they  are  being  enslaved,  that  they  slowly  but 
surely  are  being  drawn  into  a  world  activity  that  serves 
no  useful  ends,  that  promises  no  security  for  the  future. 
The  tension  resulting  from  this  state  of  affairs  causes  the 
owners  of  the  means  of  production  and  distribution  to  in- 
augurate a  system  of  force  and  violence,  in  order  to  main- 
tain their  ownership  and  control.  Production  is  now 
largely  being  carried  on  at  the  point  of  hidden  bayonets 
or  at  the  draped  muzzles  of  machine  guns,  while  gas 
bombs  that  will  put  a  whole  rebellious  city  to  sleep  or 
make  the  population  die  in  paroxysms  of  laughter  are  be- 
ing discussed  in  the  press  as  a  not  distant  possibility.  The 
system  can  no  longer  stand  on  its  merits.  It  can  main- 
tain its  life  only  by  force  or  threats  of  force,  just  as  a 
dying  person  is  kept  alive  through  the  administration  of 
ozone. 

Under  these  circumstances  millions  of  workers  are 
slowly  but  surely  perishing,  being  shoved  over  the  edge  of 
the  social  precipice,  and  the  rest  of  us  are  threatened  with 
the  same  fate,  unless  we  do  something  pretty  soon.  We 

13 


cannot  bear  up  under  this  mountain  of  misery  indefi- 
nitely, and  if  and  when  the  final  crash  comes  we  will 
all  face  starvation,  exposure  and  other  sufferings  in- 
describable. Chaos,  dissolution,  civil  war,  terrorism  by 
roving  bands,  and  every  man  at  the  other  fellow's 
throat^such  are  admittedly  the  prospects  in  many  parts. 
And  is  there  anyone  who  dares  to  say  that  this  country 
is  immune  to  such  fate?  On  the  contrary,  due  to  the 
ruthlessness  and  brutality  of  our  capitalist  class,  the 
great  number  of  races  and  creeds,  the  animosity  against 
the  foreigner  and  the  negro,  the  pernicious  activity  of 
professional  "patriots"  and  hate  breeders,  such  as  the 
Ku-Klux  Klan  and  the  other  similar  societies,  we  have, 
in  spite  of  the  wealth  of  the  country,  the  ingredients 
of  the  worst  hellbroth  the  world  ever  tasted.  Certain 
elements  seem  to  purposely  steer  for  a  head-on  collision. 
It  is  time  for  all  far-sighted,  responsible  men  and  women 
of  labor,  the  only  ones  to  depend  on,  to  take  steps  to 
prevent  a  catastrophe  of  this  kind. 

It  is  under  these  circumstances  that  the  I.  W.  W.,  hard- 
ened and  chastened  through  years  of  cruel  persecution, 
comes  to  the  front  with  its  program  of  world  salvation, 
the  only  program  conceivable  that  will  solve  the  social 
problem  and  lead  us  into  the  calm  harbor  of  a  new  society 
with  peace  and  happiness  and  abundance. 

By  means  of  our  Industrial  Unions  we  propose  to  pick 
up  the  threads  of  production  and  distribution  where  they 
fall  out  of  the  impotent  hands  of  the  capitalist  class  and 
continue  to  produce  food,  clothing  and  shelter,  thus  coming 
to  the  rescue  of  suffering  mankind.  We  propose  to  in- 
augurate a  rational  system  of  production  and  distribution, 
without  class  oppression  and  exploitation  of  man  by  man. 
We  maintain  that  the  union  of  workers  in  each  establish- 
ment is  the  organ  best  fitted  to  run  that  establishment.  In 
other  words,  we  would  replace  private  ownership  and  con- 
trol with  common  ownership  and  control,  replace  capital- 
ism with  Industrial  Communism. 


14 


V.    THE  METHODS  OF  THE  I.  W.  W. 


When  it  comes  to  the  question  of  methods  the  1.  W.  W. 
has  perhaps  been  more  misunderstood  and  misrepresented 
than  in  any  other  respect.  We  ourselves  prefer  to  describe 
our  methods  as  Economic  Direct  Action.  What  is  it? 

There  is  political  or  indirect  action  and  economic  or 
direct  action. 

To  make  it  easier  to  understand  I.  W.  W.  methods, 
let  us  define  both  of  them. 

DIFFERENT  FORMS  OF  ACTION 

Political  or  indirect  action  is  that  kind  of  action^  which 
the  workers  use  when  they  seek  to  attain  their  object  by 
securing  influence  over  or  control  of  the  governmental 
machinery.  Such  action  may  consist  of  ballots,  lobbying, 
bribery,  so-called  mass  action,  bullets  and  political  revo- 
lution. These  are  all  means  of  political  action.  The  1.  W. 
W.  as  an  organization  rejects  all  these  methods  of  attaining 
the  aims  described  above,  without  in  any  way  interfering 
with  the  political  conviction  of  its  members. 

Economic  or  direct  action  is  that  kind  of  action  which 
the  workers  use  when  they  seek  to  attain  their  object  by 
securing  control  of  the  place  of  work,  the  factory,  the  mill, 
the  shop,  through  their  own  personal  efforts. 

There  are  certain  ^^revolutionary''  politicians, — political 
actionists — ^who  want  to  use  the  economic  organs,  the 
unions,  as  a  club  with  which  to  beat  their  way  into 
possession  and  control  of  the  government  buildings.  The 
1.  W.  W.  does  not  wish  to  be  a  party  to  any  such  useless 
procedure. 

A.  F.  OF  L.  RUNS  ECONOMIC  DIRECT  ACTION  INTO  THE  DITCH 

This  difference  between  effective  and  ineffective  eco- 
nomic direct  action  is  best  illustrated  by  comparing 
the  I.  W.  W.  with  the  craft  unions,  for  instance,  of  Chi- 
cago. The  I.  W.  W.  officials  in  accordance  with  their 
program  and  their  instructions,  constantly  and  systematic- 
ally are  unloading  the  power  and  responsibility,  which  has 
a  natural  tendency  to  fall  upon  an  official  of  the  labor 
movement,  and  driving  it  back  to  the  rank  and  file  in  order 
to  secure  direct  action  by  them.  The  craft  union  officials  of 


Chicago  (and  other  cities),  on  the  other  hand,  beat  the 
membership  on  every  point  and  in  many  cases  make  them- 
selves czars  of  their  unions,  surrounding  themselves  with 
terrorist  gangs  of  sluggers  and  gunmen,  who  bulldoze  the 
members  and  practice  extortion  and  graft.  All  signs  of  op- 
position, in  meetings  or  places  of  work,  are  held  down  with 
terror  or  beaten  down  with  force,  if  necessary.  When  union 
men  seek  to  attain  their  aims  through  such  methods  they  are 
not  properly  using  direct  action.  The  members  stay  away 
from  the  meetings  and  attend  to  their  pleasures,  while  pay- 
ing the  czars  and  the  sluggers  so  much  a  month  to  "act'' 
for  them.  There  may  be  some  craft  unions  which  this  de- 
scription does  not  fit,  but  everybody  knows  it  fits  a  great 
number  of  them. 

Even  when  these  craft  unionists  strike— and  the  strike 
certainly  is  a  form  of  direct  action — they  are  frequently 
merely  obeying  orders,  whereby  even  the  strike  loses  its 
character  of  economic  direct  action.  Everybody  has  heard 
how  "the  men  are  called  off  the  job"  and  "ordered  back.'' 
It  is  the  czars,  the  sluggers  and  the  bullies  who  "call  off" 
and  "order  back"  as  their  secret  grafting  operations  re- 
quire. Even  when  a  strike  vote  is  taken  the  members  are 
often  voting  under  durance,  like  the  negroes  of  the  South 
on  election  day.  The  strikers  become  the  puppets  of  the 
czars. 

I.  W.  W.  ACTION— JOB  ACTION  AND  SOLIDARITY 

It  is  as  a  negation  of  and  as  a  reaction  against  such 
methods  that  the  I.  W.  W.  preaches  its  own  form  of  eco- 
nomic direct  action.  We  want  to  stir  the  workers  into 
personal  activity  and  participation  in  the  struggle  against 
the  exploiters  and  for  a  new  society.  We  want  them  to  keep 
matters  in  their  own  hands  and  govern  their  own  affairs. 
If  they  do  they  cannot  go  very  far  wrong.  But  if  they  turn 
over  their  fate  to  other  people's  hands,  they  are  most  apt 
to  be  betrayed.  Their  officials  should  be  their  servants  in- 
stead of  their  masters. 

Our  direct  action  method  throws  the  chief  activity  of 
the  union  on  the  job,  where  it  results  in  training  the  work- 
ers for  the  task  of  taking  over  and  running  the  industry. 
Craft  union  tactics  throw  the  activity  of  the  union  into  the 
union  office  and  consist  mostly  in  the  questionable  arm- 
chair work  of  the  leaders. 


16 


For  the  present,  direct  action  in  the  1.  W.  W.  takes 
expression  in  job  action  and  solidarity.  Wherever  1.  W. 
W.  men  are  employed  they  see  that  they  get  one  or  several 
job  delegates  and  a  job  committee.  Having  thus  gotten 
the  job  machine  in  working  order  they  begin  to  exert  pres- 
sure on  their  fellow  workers  and  their  employers  and  their 
slave  drivers  in  the  thousand  and  one  ways  that  are  open 
to  the  man  on  the  job,  who  earnestly  wishes  to  improve  his 
own  lot  and  that  of  his  fellow  workers.  By  common  ac- 
tion they  pare  off  a  little  of  the  burden  here  and  a  little 
there,  until  life  on  the  jobs  becomes  at  least  bearable.  Be- 
fore the  advent  of  the  1.  W.  W.  it  was  customary  to  work  a 
migratory  worker  to  death  as  fast  as  the  boss  liked.  Job 
action  has  put  a  stop  to  that.  The  I.  W.  W.  has  reduced 
the  hours  in  agriculture,  lumbering  and  mining,  marine 
transportation  and  other  industries.  Through  this  direct 
job  action  with  which  the  officials  have  little  or  nothing 
to  do,  the  members  have  saved  their  lives  and  got  a  foot- 
ing on  the  first  step  leading  towards  a  new  society. 

I.  W.  W.  STRIKE  ACTION 

The  I.  W.  W.  also  practises  that  form  of  direct  action 
known  as  the  strike  and  the  boycott,  but  it  is  always  the 
members  who  decide  the  calling  of  a  strike  or  a  boycott, 
not  the  officials.  The  I.  W.  W.  prefers  the  strike  on  the 
job  to  the  strike  off  the  job,  resorting  to  the  latter  only 
when  all  other  means  have  failed.  The  strike  on  the  job 
consists  in  a  withdrawal  of  efficiency  calculated  to  force 
the  employer  to  the  desired  concessions.  Such  a  strike  has 
the  advantage  that  it  forestalls  the  procuring  of  strike- 
breakers and  leaves  the  workers'  income  undiminished, 
unless  it  results  in  a  lock-out,  which  is  always  a  possibility 
but  not  a  necessary  result.  The  I.  W.  W.  members  realize 
that  the  strike  off  the  job  frequently  turns  into  a  prolonged 
fast  while  the  employer  seeks  to  fill  the  jobs  with  strike 
breakers,  and  for  that  reason  they  are  loath  to  abandon 
the  field  of  battle,  that  is  the  job,  to  the  enemy. 

The  fundamental  principles  of  the  organization  lead 
the  workers  to  try  to  stay  with  the  job  and  control  it  the 
best  they  can  rather  than  lose  control  altogether  by  aban- 
doning it.  Outside  the  gates  the  workers  have  little  power. 
This  is  in  keeping  with  the  ultimate  object  of  the  I.  W.  W. 
which  is  to  have  the  job  organization,  the  job  branch  of  the 

17 


industrial  union,  take  complete  control  and  serve  as  the 
organ  of  production  or  distribution,  as  the  case  may  be, 
when  capitalist  production  has  come  to  a  deadlock.  When 
the  last  job  strike  is  fought  and  won  we  will  stay  for  good. 


18 


VI.    INDUSTRIAL  ADMINISTRATION  VERSUS 
POLITICAL  ADMINISTRATION 

The  important  changes  in  the  economic  structure  of 
society  which  are  being  forced  on  us,  by  social  evolution, 
faster,  almost,  than  we  can  disentangle  ourselves  from 
the  debris  of  the  old  society,  carry  with  them  other  im- 
portant changes  in  the  organization  of  society. 

COLLAPSE  OF  POLITICAL  ADMINISTRATION 

We  hold  that,  in  the  nature  of  things,  the  economic 
collapse  of  capitalism  will  soon  be  followed  by  a  political 
collapse.  This  is  fully  in  accordance  with  the  materialist 
conception  of  history,  according  to  which  all  social  insti- 
tutions are  traceable  to  the  economic  structure  of  society. 
H  the  economic  structure  collapses  the  governments  will 
no  doubt  soon  collapse  also.  Unless  the  political  ad- 
ministrations quickly  adjust  themselves  to  the  economic 
changes  they  cannot  stand. 

The  political  collapse  will  partly  be  due  to  a  lack  of 
revenue.  When  production  and  distribution  are  shut 
down,  the  government's  income  from  taxes,  etc.,  will  be 
greatly  diminished.  But  in  a  private  ownership  society  the 
government  needs  funds  just  as  much  as  an  industrial  en- 
terprise or  any  other  kind  of  business.  Due  to  the  indus- 
trial collapse  in  Europe,  for  instance,  many  European  gov- 
ernments are  trying  to  borrow  money  with  which  to  rule. 
The  political  collapse  follows  closely  upon  the  heels  of  the 
economic  collapse. 

If  there  are  no  funds  with  which  to  run  city,  state  or 
national  government,  the  officials  and  politicians  will  have 
to  close  up  shop  in  one  department  after  another.  But  even 
if  it  had  great  treasure  stored,  no  government  based  on 
private  ownersliip  and  taxes  could  continue  long  in  a  so- 
ciety where  private  control  of  production  and  distribution 
have  collapsed.  Such  a  government  would  be  left  hanging 
in  the  air  and  would  shrivel  up,  unable  to  function  as  an 
administration. 

This  being  our  philosophy,  we  are,  consequently,  not 
engaged  in  the  useless  task  of  attacking  governments 
that  oppress  us.  A  dog,  when  beaten  with  a  stick, 
buries  its  fangs  in  the  stick.  The  workers  should  have 
more  sense  than  that.  The  government  is  the  stick  or  club 
in  the  hands  of  the  economic  masters  of  every  country. 

19 


Leave  the  stick  alone  and  turn  upon  the  master,  as  the  1. 
W.  W.  program  provides.  The  workers  of  Russia,  Sweden 
and  Germany  have  twisted  the  governmental  stick  from  the 
economic  master,  and  are  trying  socialist  governments. 
But  the  socialist  stick  is  as  bad  as  the  capitalist  stick. 

The  government,  the  administration,  is  merely  the  reflex, 
the  shadow  of  the  prevailing  economic  system,  and  we  are 
not  running  after  shadows  and  reflexes.  We  are  after 
the  substance  that  throws  the  shadow.  When  the  sub- 
stance will  crumble  up  in  a  heap  and  shorten,  the  shadow 
will  shorten  also. 

This  philosophy  of  ours  does  not  deprive  the  1.  W.  W. 
members  of  the  right  to  vote  politically.  They  have  per- 
fect political  liberty,  but  must  not  try  to  put  our  organiza- 
tion under  any  political  control. 

INDUSTRIAL  ADMINISTRATION  BORN  OF  ECONOMIC  NECESSITY 

As  said  before,  when  the  economic  collapse  has  gone 
so  far  that  the  sufferings  of  the  people  are  unendurable, 
the  people  will  have  to  have  new  organs  with  which  to 
produce  food,  clothing  and  shelter,  or  perish.  The  whole 
mass  of  usefully  employed  people  will  have  to  line  up 
industrially,  in  order  to  jointly  bring  order  out  of  chaos 
and  save  society  from  destruction.  We  cannot  possibly 
think  of  starting  capitalism  all  over  again. 

About  that  time  they  will  find  that  the  old  adminis- 
trations are  entirely  unsuited  to  function.  People  will 
find  that  it  will  be  necessary  to  shift  from  a  political  ad- 
ministration to  an  Industrial  Administration. 

We  know  how  the  political  administrations  are  built 
up.  Voting  and  representation  are  on  geographical  lines. 
The  citizens  vote  promiscuously  in  their  precincts,  most 
of  them  unknown  to  one  another  and  unacquainted  with 
the  nominees.  These  are  generally  presented  to  the  voters 
by  a  political  machine  with  many  secrets  that  cannot 
stand  the  light  of  day.  The  officials  are  not  selected  for 
their  fitness  as  much  as  for  the  power  they  wield  in  the 
political  machine,  or  for  their  willingness  to  run  the  ques- 
tionable errands  of  the  political  machine.  As  a  result  we 
see  a  highly  industrialized  society  like  the  United  States 
largely  run  by  lawyers  and  professional  politicians.  Poli- 
tical administrations  thus  tend  to  become  incompetent  and 


20 


help  to  run  capitalism  into  the  ditch.  This  applies  not  only 
to  capitalist  adminitrations  but  also  to  the  socialist  ones. 
"Fill  all  the  important  offices  with  dependable  bolsheviks 
irrespective  of  their  competence/'  was  the  order  of  Russia. 
The  industrial  collapse  of  Soviet  Russia  was  the  result. 
Modern  industrial  society  is  too  complex  an  economic 
mechanism  to  be  run  by  party  politicians  and  political  ad- 
ministrations. An  industrial  society,  in  order  to  prosper, 
must  have  an  administration  of  experts  in  every  field,  i.  e., 
an  Industrial  Administration. 

We  no  longer  want  a  haphazard  mixture  of  lawyers 
and  other  silver-tongued  orators  to  govern  us.  The  citi- 
zens of  an  industrial  society  want  to  elect  their  adminis- 
tration from  their  shop,  their  industry,  their  place  of  work, 
their  occupation,  whatever  it  may  be.  They  all  of  them 
want  to  send  their  best  and  most  expert  men  and  women 
to  form  the  administration.  Every  branch  of  human  activ- 
ity will  be  represented  in  this  administration,  whereas 
the  political  party  administration  is  largely  made  up  with- 
out any  reference  to  their  fitness.  In  fact,  most  politicians 
know  no  useful  work.  Their  business  is  party  intrigue  and 
party  machine  "work.'* 

By  means  of  the  Industrial  Franchise,  which  gives  the 
vote  to  all  useful  workers  in  their  productive  capacity; 
by  means  of  Industrial  Representation,  which  gives  us 
expert  public  servants  from  every  line  of  human  activity, 
and  by  means  of  the  resulting  Industrial  Administration, 
we  propose  to  anchor  all  power  for  all  times  to  come 
with  the  deep  layers  of  the  people  who  do  the  useful 
work  with  hand  and  brain,  SO  that  it  cannot  possibly  slip 
away  from  them  and  give  rise  to  another  system  of  class 
rule. 

The  industrial  union  machinery  described  in  the  next 
chapter  is  the  anchor  by  means  of  which  the  1.  W.  W.  pro- 
poses to  secure  the  freedom  of  the  peoples  for  coming  ages. 

This  is  truly  what  we  mean  when  we  speak  of  Indus- 
trial Democracy  and  Industrial  Communism. 


21 


VII.    THE  STRUCTURE  OF  THE  I.  W.  W. 


As  mentioned  before,  the  L  W.  W.  has  at  present  29 
Industrial  Unions  in  working  order,  grouped  into  six  de- 
partments. Some  of  the  Industrial  Unions  are  as  yet  small, 
and  are  to  be  considered  merely  as  a  starter. 

THE  FIGHTING  FRONT  OF  TODAY— THE  FRAMEWORK  OF  THE 
SOCIETY  OF  TOMORROW 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  Industrial  Departments  and 
of  the  Industrial  Unions: 

Department  of  Agriculture — No.  100 

Agricultural  Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  110. 
Lumber  Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  120. 
Fishermen's  Industrial  Union  No.  130. 

Floricultural  and  Horticultural  Workers  Industrial  Union 
No.  140. 

Department  of  Mining — No.  200 

Metal  Mine  Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  210. 
Coal  Miners  and  Coke  Oven   Workers  Industrial  Union 
No.  220. 

Oil,  Gas,  and  Petroleum  Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  230. 

Department  of  Construction — No.  300 

Railroad,  Road,  Canal,  Tunnel  and  Bridge  Construction 
Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  310. 

Ship  Builders  Industrial  Union  No.  320. 

House  and  Building  Construction  Workers  Industrial  Union 
No.  330. 

Department  of  Manufacture  and  General  Production — No.  400 

Textile  and  Clothing  Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  410. 
Woodworkers  Industrial  Union  No.  420. 
Chemical  Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  430. 
Metal  and  Machinery  Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  440. 
Printing  and  Publishing  House  Workers  Industrial  Unioti 
No.  450. 

Foodstuff  Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  460. 

Leather  Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  470. 

Glass  and  Pottery  Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  480. 


22 


Department  of  Transportation — No.  500 

Marine  Transportation  Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  510. 
Railroad  Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  520. 
Telegraph,    Telephone    and   Wireless   Workers  Industrial 
tJnion  No.  530. 

Municipal  Transportation  Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  540. 
Aerial  Navigation  Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  550. 
Department  of  Public  Service — No.  600 

Health  and  Sanitation  Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  610. 
Park  and  Highway  Maintenance  Workers  Industrial  Union 
No.  620. 

Educational  Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  630. 
General  Distribution  Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  640. 
Public  Utilities  Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  650. 
Amusement  Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  660. 

This  decimal  numbering  makes  it  possible  to  insert  new 
Industrial  Unions  in  the  numbering  scheme,  when  they  are 
needed. 

STRUCTURAL  DETAILS 

As  stated  before,  these  Industrial  Unions  are  composed 
of  job  branches.  When  the  necessity  arises  for  a  depart- 
mental administration  comprising  several  industrial  un- 
ions, the  necessary  provisions  will  be  made. 

The  "law"  making  bodies  of  the  I.  W.  W.  are  the  General 
Convention,  the  Industrial  Union  Convention,  the  Indus- 
trial District  Convention,  etc.  Other  law-making  bodies 
will  be  provided  for  as  they  are  needed. 

The  executive  organs  of  the  I.  W.  W.  are  the  General 
Executive  Board  and  a  General  Secretary-Treasurer.  The 
Industrial  Unions  have  a  Secretary-Treasurer  and  a  Gen- 
eral Organization  Committee. 

The  above  is  the  fighting  front  of  today  as  well  as  the 
skeleton  of  the  productive  and  distributive  machinery  of 
the  new  society  as  conceived  of  by  the  I.  W.  W.,  and  this 
machinery  we  hope  to  make  the  industrial  administration 
of  the  future. 

In  addition  there  are  administrative  organs  of  a  geo- 
graphical character  needed  for  local  and  regional  ad- 
ministration, to  take  over  the  functions  of  the  existing 
local  administrations  when  they  shall  have  ceased  to 
function  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  majority  of  the  people. 
These  organs  will  also  be  elected  by  means  of  the  Indus- 


1 


trial  franchise.  They  will  be  industrial  in  character,  and 
not  political.  These  Industrial  Local  and  Regional  Coun- 
cils have  their  counterpart  in  the  present  Labor  Councils, 
the  Russian  Soviet,  the  French  Bureau  du  Travail,  the 
German  Arbeiterboerse,  the  Italian  Camera  di  Lavoro,  the 
Scandinavian  Lokal  Samorganisation.  , 

As  a  matter  of  principle,  however,  the  1.  W.  W.  refrains 
from  laying  down  detailed  rules  of  cast  iron  rigidity,  for 
future  generations  to  follow.  We  prefer  to  build  the  new- 
organs  as  we  go  along,  adapting  ourselves  to  the  economic 
pressure  rather  than  complying  with  any  dogmas  or  any 
authoritarian  philosophy  like  socialism,  bolshevism  or 
anarchism.  The  1.  W.  W.  may  include  many  members 
who  still  proclaim  themselves  as  socialists,  bolsheviks  or 
anarchists,  as  the  case  may  be,  but  neither  of  them  can  call 
the  organization  their  child  or  servant.  The  I.  W.  W.  is 
breaking  a  path  of  its  own. 

If  you  must  give  us  a  short  name  call  us  Industrial 
Communists.  We  are  the  product  of  the  economic  condi- 
tions of  the  highest  developed  industrial  country  in  the 
world,  our  whole  life  is  identified  with  these  industrial 
activities,  we  think  and  speak  in  terms  of  industry,  we 
seek  salvation  through  industrial  organization.  We  are 
Industrial  Communists.  Socialists,  bolsheviks  and  anar- 
chists and  all  other  workers  of  different  trends  of  thought 
are  adopting  our  philosophy,  principles,  objects,  method, 
structure  and  even  our  name.  On  the  basis  of  these  prin- 
ciples we  stretch  out  our  hand  across  the  seas  ready  to 
join  with  industrial  unionists  in  an  INDUSTRIAL  INTER- 
NATIONAL, which  will  be  a  realization  of  the  dream  of 
the  founders  which  caused  them  to  select  the  name  ^'The 
Industrial  Workers  of  the  World." 


24 


VIII.    THE  EDUCATIONAL  WORK  OF  THE  1.  W.  W. 

Important  though  the  achievements  of  the  1.  W.  W. 
may  be  on  the  industrial  field,  its  chief  function  so  tar 
has  been  education.  It  is  through  its  efforts  on  that  field 
that  the  1.  W.  W.  has  become  a  world  movement.  Untor- 
tunatelv  the  L  W.  W.  is  able  to  furnish  only  the  most 
elementary  industrial  education  at  present.  But  the  crying 
need  is  first  of  all  a  greatly  improved  general  education. 

ILLITERACY  AND  NEAR-ILLITERACY 

Statistics  show  that  illiteracy  in  the  U.  S.  reaches  a 
staggering  figure.  The  illiterates  are  found  not  only 
among  negroes  and  foreigners  but  among  native  whites, 
as  well.  The  figure  for  the  latter  is  greater  m  cer- 
tain parts  than  is  generally  believed.  On  the  basis  oi  the 
last  big  military  census,  authorities  estimate  illiteracy 
among  the  adult  citizens  to  be  about  25%.  And  these  illit- 
erates are  practically  all  in  the  working  class.  Immediately 
above  this  group  in  the  scale  is  another  large  group  of 
near-illiterates.  Only  a  comparatively  small  percentage  of 
the  workers  can  be  reached  with  the  printed  word  at  this 
time,  perhaps  only  10  millions  of  the  40  million  workers. 
The  rest  are  indifferent  or  inaccessible,  due  to  ignorance 
and  illiteracy. 

How  bad  educational  matters  stand  is  proven  by^  the 
war  census.  The  psychologists  have  officially  determined 
after  examining  1,700,000  army  recruits,  that  thirteen 
years  is  the  average  intellectual  age  of  Americans  fit  for 
military  service.  Less  than  one-third  are  above  this  aver- 
age and  only  41/2  per  cent  are  of  superior  intelligence, 
according  to  the  same  official  statistics. 

It  is  this  sad  state  of  affairs  that  accounts  for  the  relative 
slowness  with  which  our  organization  breaks  ground. 

The  craft  union  is  often  a  mere  conspiracy  headed  by  a 
bully  who  knows  it  all,  while  the  membership  does  not  have 
to  know  anything  beyond  paying  dues.  It  is  different  with 
the  I.  W.  W.  It  requires  a  somewhat  trained  mind,  with  an 
intellectuality  above  the  statistically  determined  figure  of 
thirteen  years,  in  order  to  grasp  its  significance  and  its 
world  wide  scope.  Thus  ignorance  is  the  greatest  obstacle 
we  have  to  overcome,  many  times  greater  than  capitalist 
persecution.  The  capitalists  know  what  they  do,  when 
they  refuse  to  build  schools. 

25 


An  illiterate  workingman  is  as  dangerous  to  the  aspira- 
tions of  the  workers  in  these  trying  times  as  a  small-pox 
or  bubonic  plague  patient  would  be  to  our  health.  For 
this  reason  we  tactfully  but  firmly  try  to  prevail  upon  our 
illiterate  fellow  workers  to  go  and  learn  how  to  read  and 
write.  The  opportunities  for  learning  are  manifold  if  we 
only  look  them  up.  An  illiterate  man  is  next  to  impossible  to 
reach  with  a  coherent  statement  on  any  subject,  and  his 
opinion  in  big  matters  is,  naturally,  next  to  worthless.  He 
knows  little  or  nothing  beyond  what  he  experiences.  He 
is  mentally  blind-folded,  but  he  is  still  our  brother  and 
fellow  worker. 

What  we  have  said  about  the  illiterate  applies  also  to 
the  near-illiterate  who  may  be  able  to  spell  through  a 
word  and  scrawl  his  name,  but  is  unable  to  digest  any- 
thing beyond  the  scandals  in  the  yellow  press.  Like  his 
illiterate  brother  he  is  helplessly  drifting  to  social  destruc- 
tion unless  somebody  comes  to  his  aid. 

THE  FIGHT  AGAINST  DARKNESS 

Ever  since  its  inception  the  I.  W.  W.  has  carried  at 
the  top  of  the  first  page  of  its  official  organ  the  three 
words  ^'education,  organization,  emancipation."  They  tell 
the  whole  story.  Before  we  can  emancipate  ourselves  we 
must  first  educate  and  organize. 

If  the  people  want  a  peaceful  transition,  they  should 
build  school  houses.  If  they  want  a  catastrophe,  they 
should  close  their  doors.  Instead  of  subduing  desperate 
workers  with  jails  and  machine  guns  help  them  by  edu- 
cating them  so  they  can  solve  the  social  problem.  Unless 
the  workers  have  a  good  general  education  to  start  with, 
a  good  deal  of  our  industrial  education  falls  on  barren 
soil,  or  it  will  have  to  be  of  such  elementary  nature  as  to 
be  of  little  help  for  dealing  with  the  giant  problems  of 
the  day,  problems  frequently  too  complicated  for  even  a 
highly  trained  mind. 

However,  there  is  small  chance  for  improvement  in  the 
educational  facilities,  unless  the  teachers  organize  into  one 
big  union  and  put  their  united  strength  behind  a  most  far- 
reaching  program  of  general  education,  with  particular 
stress  on  history,  practical  economics  and  evolution  in  its 
various  aspects. 

26 


The  I.  W.  W.  members  have  in  the  course  of  the  years 
made  thousands  of  speeches  and  distributed  tens  of  mil- 
lions of  pieces  of  literature,  books,  pamphlets,  papers, 
handbills,  etc.  Most  of  the  education  thus  dissemmated 
has  been  of  a  general  sociological  nature.  As  yet  the 
organization  has  not  been  able  to  specialize  to  any  great 
extent  on  higher  industrial  education,  but  plans  have  for 
some  time  been  under  discussion  of  establishmg  a  per- 
manent "Bureau  of  Industrial  Research''  or  an  "Educa- 
tional Bureau''  for  the  purpose  of  specializing  on  one  in- 
dustry after  another,  in  order  to  create  a  series  of  Industrial 
Union  Handbooks  and  other  industrial  literature  cover- 
ing the  whole  industrial  field.  Such  a  series  of  handbooks, 
leaflets  and  pamphlets  would  give  the  workers  a  firmer 
grip  on  the  situation  when  they  are  confronted  with  the 
question  of  taking  over  industry.  This  plan  may  be  a  reality 
in  the  near  future.  For  the  rest  we  recommend  the  reader 
to  consult  our  book  list  which  may  be  had  on  application. 

The  1.  W.  W.  publishes  over  a  dozen  daily,  weekly  and 
monthly  papers  and  magazines  and  you  are  requested 
to  get  in  touch  with  our  General  Secretary-Treasurer  in 
order  to  secure  the  reading  matter  you  desire. 


27 


IX.    THE  ETHICAL  SIDE  OF  THE  I.  W.  W. 


The  Preamble  of  the  I.  W.  W.  is  on  the  surface  an  eco- 
nomic document,  but  if  you  stop  and  think,  you  will  real- 
ize that  it  is  essentially  a  document  of  "hope,  faith  and 
charity,"  hope  for  ultimate  justice,  faith  in  humanity,  and 
charity  to  one  another.  "An  injury  to  one  is  an  injury 
to  all,"  says  our  declaration  of  principles,  and  this  is  only 
the  golden  rule  from  a  working  class  viewpoint. 

The  magic  power  of  our  gospel  is  not  in  the  material  ad- 
vantages our  program  offers.  Men  would  not  go  to  jail  by 
the  thousands  for  the  sake  of  a  few  dollars  and  cents  alone. 
The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  our  Declaration  of  Prin- 
ciples, in  addition  to  being  the  trumpet  blast  of  capitalist 
doomsday,  is  also  one  of  the  most  powerful  ethical  docu- 
ments of  the  ages.  Yes,  to  many  the  I.  W.  W.  is  a  religion. 
It  has  accomplished  with  them  what  no  other  religion 
could.  It  has  "saved"  them,  given  peace  to  their  minds 
and  hope  for  the  future. 

What  holds  us  together  under  such  terrible  diffusing 
pressure  is  not  merely  the  economic  necessity  of  having  a 
union  but  also  the  hope  and  the  inspiration  derived  from 
the  principle  of  human  solidarity  and  the  world-wide  broth- 
erhood of  man  which  are  at  the  bottom  of  our  activities. 

Men  are  becoming  tired  and  worn  out  mentally  in  the 
hell  of  present  day  society.  They  are  looking  for  some- 
thing better  for  the  future,  if  not  for  themselves,  at  least 
for^  future  generations  of  men.  They  are  looking  for 
deliverance,  or  "salvation"  as  it  is  commonly  called,  from 
the  sodden,  unclean  and  degrading  life  of  capitalist  society. 
They  are  longing  for  peace,  purity,  justice,  love  and  hap- 
pmess,  and  they  feel  that  they  have  found  the  right  way 
when  they  join  the  I.  W.  W. 

The  sentiments,  the  ideas,  the  ethical  principles  easily 
read  between  the  brief  lines  of  the  I.  W.  W.  Preamble 
have  thus  become  the  intangible  religion  of  the  poor  which 
carries  them  through  the  greatest  trials  and  tribulations 
and  protects  them  from  breaking  down,  and  from  giving 
up  hope.  This  religion  helps  them  in  trying  to  lead  clean 
lives,  makes  them  courageous  against  the  strong,  and  kind 
towards  the  weak  and  defenseless,  ready  to  throw  their 
personality  into  the  break  wherever  the  desperate  struggle 
of  the  masses  breaks  into  flames.  It  is  the  kindly  light  that 
leads  them  through  life. 

28 


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mmmms 
"iiflryNi  NIT" 


in  U.  S.  A.    i^atituis,  of .  IMustrial  Relationl*W€E  M  CENTS 

Universit:/  of  .  California 
Los  Angeles  24,  California 


LA  BELLE  SANSCULOTTE 

By  Covington  Hall 
Writer  and  Oldtime  Industrial  Unionist 

She  is  coming,  O  my  masters,  she  is  coming  in  her  might, 
With  the  red  flag  o'er  her  legions  and  her  sword  sharp,  clean  and 
bright; 

She  is  breaking  through  your  dungeons,  she  is  tearing  off  your 

chain,  ^ 
She  is  coming  to  take  vengeance  without  mercy  once  again! 

She  is  coming,  O  my  masters,  with  a  new  might  in  her  arms, 
Her  vision  clear,  unclouded  by  a  dying  Satan's  charms; 
She  is  coming  in  hate's  beauty,  with  love's  fierceness  in  her  eye, 
Like  a  maddened  mother  hast'ning  where  your  tortured  child-slaves 
die  I 

She  is  coming,  O  my  masters,  with  her  strong,  steel-muscled  hands. 
She  is  reaching  for  your  factories,  your  gardens  and  your  lands; 
She  is  calling  to  her  standard  all  the  sons  of  grief  and  toil. 
She  is  promising  your  soldiers  all  your  stolen  wealth  for  spoil. 

She  is  coming,  O  my  masters!  'Neath  her  red,  triumphal  arch, 
Lo!  the  guards  that  now  surround  you  in  her  rebel  ranks  shall 
march ! 

She  is  coming  as  forever  and  forever  she  has  come, 
Arm  in  arm  with  Hope  and  Freedom,  to  the  long  roll  of  Right's 
drum! 

She  is  coming,  O  my  masters!  Soon  her  troops  shall  rest  their  feet 
In  the  limpid  waters  flowing  through  your  bowers,  cool  and  sweet; 
Soon  her  hungered  hosts  shall  gather  in  your  gold-roofed  banquets 
hall. 

And  to  ecstatic  music  hold  high  revel  o'er  your  fall! 

She  is  coming,  O  my  masters,  she  is  coming  in  her  might, 
With  the  red  flag  o'er  her  legions  and  her  sword  sharp,  clean  and 
bright! 

She  is  coming  in  hate's  beauty,  with  love's  fierceness  in  her  eye, 
Like  a  maddened  mother  hast'ning  where  your  tortured  child-slaves 
die! 


LIXT  Cr  €€NTCNTX 

La  Belle  Sansculotte  (Poem)   Covington  Hall.  .Cover 

Introduction  2 

Revolutionary  Class  Union   James  P.  Thompson.  .3 

Free  Speech  Fights  of  the  L  W.  W. .  .  .Roger  N.  Baldwin  .  .13 
How  The  I.  W.  W.  Defends  Labor  .  .  .Ralph  Chaplin  ....  .21 

Build  For  Power   C.  E.  Payne ......  .29 

The  Industrial  Union  In  Agriculture .  .  Tom  Connors  35 

The  Way  Of  The  Wobbly  F.  W.  Thompson.  .  .  .43 

The  Colorado  Conquest   Ed  Delaney  51 

Education  Clifford  B.  Ellis  ....  59 

International  Relations  of  the  L  W.  W. .  Joseph  Wagner  67 

At  The  Crossroads  ................  John  A.  Gahan  74 


INTI2€i:)U€TI€N 


In  step  with  productive  development  to  industrial  pro- 
portions, the  lodMstrial  Workers  of  the  World  was  formed  by 
a  groisp,  of  revolutionary  umonists  at  Chicago,  June  27,  1905. 
Among  its  fo-imders  were  such  figures  'as  Eugene  V.  Debs, 
Thos  J.  Haggerty,  Wm.  E.  Trautman,  William  D.  Haywood, 
and  several  of  the  m&n  who  have  contributed  articles  for  this 
commemorative  pamphlet. 

Froam  its  inception  the  I.  W.  W.  has  produced  its  own 
dauntless  working  class  voices,  and  in  these  pages,  marked  by 
keen  intelligence,  broad  information,  clarity  of  logic,  diversity 
of  expression  and  loftiness  of  vision,  leading  writers,  produced 
by  the  organization's  power  to  rally  articulation,  have  created 
a  work  that  will  endure  to  the  greater  glory  of  our  glorious 
movement. 

Because  of  the  fortunate  factors  just  enumerated  it  is 
believed  by  those  privileged  to  have  read  the  pamphlet  in 
manuscript  that  this  work  is  unsurpassed  in  its  field,  if,  indeed, 
it  has  ever  been  equalled.  The  widest  possible  distribution  of 
this  25th  Anniversary  of  the  1.  W.  W.  pamphlet  is  certain  to 
redound  to  the  greater  prestige  and  growth  of  the  I.  W.  W., 
and  to  this  end  let  all  in  our  organization,  or  animated  by  a 
wish  to  see  it  flourish,  pledge  themselves  to  carry  the  pamphlet 
to  the  dark  places  of  working  class  ignorance  and  light  them 
with  its  working  class  truth. 


REVOLUTIONARY  CLASS 
UNION 

By  JAMES  F.  THOMPSON 

Labor  Orator  and  One  of  the  I.  W.  W.  Founders 

"In  order  to  understamd  the  social  movement  it  must 
be  looked  at  as  a  process  of  natural  history,  governed  by  laws 
not  only  independent  of  the  human  will,  consciousness  and  in- 
telligence, but  rather,  on  the  contrary,  determinijiig  that  will, 
consciousness  and  intelligence." 

*'j'ust  as  the  real  reason  why  people  dress  differently  in 
winter  than  in  summer  is  to  be  found  in  the  different  climatic 
conditions,  so,  *the  real  causes  of  all  social  changes  and  revo- 
lutions are  to  be  sought,  not  in  men's  brains,  not  in  their  more 
or  less  confused  ideas  of  right  and  wrong  or  of  truth  and 
justice,  not  in  the  philosophy  but  in  the  economics  of  each 
particular  epoch."  (1). 

Cannibaiiism  was  very  prevalent  among  the  ancients.  We 
of  today  are  shocked  at  the  very  thought  of  cannibalism.  And 
yet,  cannibalism  is,  in  many  ways,  one  of  the  most  humane 
forms  in  which  man  was  ever  devoured  by  his  fellowman. 

When  the  praductiveness  of  labor  reached  the  point  where 
man  was  able  to  produce  not  only  eno'Ugh  to  maintain  him- 
self, but  more,  then  cannibalism  died  out  and  slavery  began. 

With  the  'beginning  of  slavery,  of  course,  society  divided 
into  classes.  Morality  took  on  a  class  character.  Instead  of 
"whatever  is  in  the  interest  of  the  tribe  is  good",  we  have  this 
formula,  Anything  that  is  in  the  interest  of  the  ruling  class 
is  good  and  anything  against  their  interest  is  had."  'The  rul- 
ing ideas  of  each  age  have  ever  been  the  ideas  of  its  ruling 
class."  (4). 

The  master  class  was  forced  to  organize  in  order  to  rule, 
and  behold,  *The  State"  appears!  The  State  is  merely  the  or- 
ganized powers  of  oppression  and  coercion  used  by  the  ruling 


3 


class  to  maintain  themiselves  in  their  potsition  as  a  rul'ing  class. 
The  State  changes  in  form  from  time  to  time  as  conditions 
change,  and  it  wears  many  different  national  uniforms,  but  it 
never  loses  its  identity  as  'The  State".  The  class  machine  of 
oppression  known  as  ''The  State"  will  only  disappear  when 
the  world's  last  class  struggle  ends. 

In  the  fifth  century  the  barbarians  of  the  north  swept 
down  over  western  Europe  and  plundered  everywhere  until 
they  reached  the  sea,  then  turned  back.  The  slaves  who  fled 
to  the  woods  at  their  approach  were  tilling  the  soil.  They 
trembled  at  the  sight  of  the  organized  barbarians,  but  the 
barbarians  said  to  them,  "Fear  not,  we  will  not  kill  you.  Go 
on  and  till  the  soil,  but  remember,  all  you  produce  over  and 
above  what  is  necessary  to  maintain  you  you  must  give  to  us." 
Then  followed  over  a  thousand  years  of  feudalism,  those  hor- 
rible centuries  of  blood  and  tears  known  as  the  dark  ages  dur- 
ing which  the  ruling  class,  led  by  their  kings,  claimed  a  divine 
right  to  rule  and  roh  their  fellowmen. 

It  was  indeed  a  darik  age.  The  phantom-haunted  fogs  of 
ignorance,  superstition  and  fear  hung  like  a  pall  over  the 
human  race.  "The  voice  of  liberty  was  strangled  and  mur- 
derers sat  'Upon  the  thrones.  The  fires  of  persecution  climbed 
around  the  limbs  of  countless  martyrs.  Brave  men  and  women 
languished  in  dungeons  and  darkness."  (5).  "All  the  Mount 
Calvaries  of  truth  and  discovery  were  white  with  the  fire- 
bleached  bones  of  thinkers."  (6). 

Fortunately,  society  is  not  a  solid  crystal.  It  is  an  organ- 
ism, not  only  capable  of  change  but  constantly  changing. 
Gradually  within  feudal  society,  production  for  exchange,  i.  e. 
the  capitalist  mode  of  production,  developed.  The  factory 
system  came  and  later  on  machinery  and  modern  industry.  The 
discovery  of  America  and  the  opening  up  of  the  world's 
markets  increased  the  demand  for  commodities. 

A  commodity,  by  the  way,  is  "any  useful  thing  produced 
by  labor  for  exchange"  (7),  and,  note  carefully,  production 
for  exchange  is  the  capitalist  mode  of  production.  As  cap- 
italism developed  within  feudal'  society  the  capitalist  class, 
i.  e.  the  bourgeoisie,  grew  in  wealth  and  power.  They  were 
compelled  to  pay  heavy  tribute  to  the  Bishop  and  the  King, 
but  in  spite  of  the  reactionary  forces  that  were  hampering 
and  trying  to  block  and  roll  back  the  wheels  of  progress, 


4 


capitalism  developed.  The  capitalist  class  grew  in  wealth  and 
power  until  they  were  able  se.riously  to  challenge  the  ruling 
class. 

Here  we  have  a  situation  that  must  exist  before  a  revolu- 
tion iis  possible,  i.  e.  "the  old  society  must  be  pregnant  with 
the  new.'^  (8). 

Finally  came  the  trial  of  strength  between  the  new  and 
the  old.  A  series  of  revolutions  shook  the  world.  The  old  went 
down  before  the  greater  power  of  the  new!  The  capitalist 
class  ibecame  the  ruling  class.  The  capitalist  mode  of  produc- 
tion prevailed.  The  whole  social  structure  changed  to  con- 
form to  the  conditions  arising  from  the  capitalist  mode  of  pro- 
duction. And  behold !  Capitalism,  the  paradise  of  the  cap- 
italist, the  epoch  of  the  bourgeoisie. 

In  feudal  society  the  land  owning  class  was  the  ruling 
class  and  that  one  great  interest  was  represented  by  govern- 
ments in  the  form  of  absolute  monarchies.  As  the  capitalist 
mode  of  production  develops  in  any  country  there  develops 
alongside  of  the  "land  interest"  many  other  interests:  mer- 
chant, manufacture,  transportation,  oil,  steel,  lumber,  etc.,  all 
among  the.  capitalist  class.  In  the  early  stages  of  capitalism 
none  of  these  interests  was  powerful  enough  to  rule  its  own  in- 
dustry, to  say  nothing  of  rule  the  country.  Here  we  have  the 
foundation  for  Democracy.  With  the  triumph  of  this  class 
capitalist  governments  were  formed.  The  absolute  monarchy 
gave  way  to  the  constitutional  monarcy  or  the  Republic.  The 
representative  form  of  government  appeared. 

"The  economic  mode  of  production  and  exchange  forms 
the  basis  of  the  whole  social  structure."  (9). 

Capitalism  demands  an  educated  working  class.  Workers 
who  could  neither  read  nor  write  would  not  be  able  to  sort 
freight,  read  price  tags,  count  money,  keep  books,  use  the  tape 
measure,  the  square,  the  micrometer,  etc.  With  the  coming 
of  capitalism  the  free  school  system  appears.  It  is  to  the  in- 
terest of  the  capitalist  class  to  increase  the  productiveness  of 
labor,  in  order  to  shorten  that  part  of  the  working  day  during 
which  we  produce  wealth  for  ourselves  and  correspondingly 
lengthen  that  part  of  the  working  day  during  which  we  'pro- 
duce surplus  value  for  them.  They  educate  us  in  order  to  make 
of  us  perfected  instruments  of  production.  But  it  is  not  enough 


5 


that  we  merely  work  for  them.  They  mis-educate  us  in  order 
to  get  us  to  fight  for  them !  Think  cf  a  slave  class  fighting  to 
defend  a  slave  system! 

Capitalism  is  based  on  wage  slavery.  The  capitalists  hire 
wage  workers  to  produce  wealth,  give  them  part  of  that  wealth 
in  the  form  of  wages  and  keep  the  rest.  We  do  not  sell  our 
lalbor  to  the  capitalists;  we  sell  our  labor  power.  'That  which 
confronts  the  capitalist  in  the  market  is  not  labor  but  the 
laborer  and  that  which  we  sell  is  our  labor  power".  (10). 
Labor  power  is  just  as  differe^nt  from  labor  as  a  machine  is 
different  from  the  work  it  does.  ''Labor  (power  is  the  mental 
and  physical  capabilities  of  man  which  he  exercises  when  he 
produces  wealth".  (11). 

To  illustrate  what  a  wage  slave  is,  suppose  you  owned  a 
nice,  automobile  land  some  one  should  say  to  you,  *1  want  to  use 
your  car  until  it  is  all  worn  out.  I  will  give  it  gas  and  oil 
enough  to  keep  it  running  until  it  can't  run  any  more."  Surely 
you  would  not  agree  to  that.  You  wouldn't  allow  anybody  to 
use  your  car  until  it  was  all  v/orn  out  just  for  gas  and  oil. 

But,  mark  you  well,  if  you  are  a  wage  worker  that  is 
what  you  are  doing  with  your  body.  The  capitalists  use  you 
until  you  are  all  worn  out  and  all  they  aim  to  give  you  is  what 
the  chattel  slaves  got,  what  the  serfs  got,  what  a  horse  gets, 
a  bare  living,  and  you  are  not  even  sure  of  that.  How  about 
your  children?  You  parents  spend  many  happy  hours  teaching 
your  children  how  to  walk  and  how  to  talk.  Long  years  are 
spent  upon  their  education.  When  they  get  to  be  wonderful 
young  men  and  women  with  their  eyes  brightly  shining  like 
the  headlights  on  a  new  car,  and  with  their  veins  and  arteries 
like  the  wiring  on  a  new  car,  and  their  hearts  beating  with- 
out a  murmur,  like  the  smooth  running  of  new  engines,  then 
the  capitalists  say  to  the  proud  parents,  *'We  want  to  use  your 
children  to  produce  wealth  for  us  and  for  our  children.  Just 
as  we  have  used  you  to  produce  wealth  for  us,  so  our  children 
want  to  use  your  children  to  -produce  wealth  for  them  when 
we  are  gone." 

The  parents  ask,  ''What  are  our  children  to  get  for  the 
use  of  their  bodies  during  the  precious  years  of  their  lives?" 
Answer,  "Gas  and  oil".  A  mere  living  wage.  The  endless  chain 
that  starts  and  ends  with  work.  Work  to  get  money,  to  buy 
food,  to  get  strength  to  work.  Every  increase  in  the  productiv- 


6 


ity  of  labor,  every  invention,  every  victory  of  science  and 
triumph  of  genius  in  the  line  of  industrial  progress,  only  goes 
to  increase  the  wealth  of  a  parasite  class  while  the  workers 
are  only  supposed  to  get  what  slave  classes  always  got,  a  bare 
living  and  often  not  even  that.  This  is  wage  slavery,  the  founda- 
tion of  ca'pitalism. 

But  capitalism  is  only  a  passing  stage  in  the  economic  dev- 
elopment of  mankind.  Ais  capitalism  spreads  over  the  earth  it 
produces  the  wage  working  class,  i.  e.  the  proletariat,  the 
great  class  whoise  historic  mission  is  to  end  exploitation  of 
man  by  his  fellow  man.  "Of  all  the  classes  that  stand  face  to 
face  with  the  bourgeoisie  today,  the  proletariat  alone  is  a 
really  revolutionary  class.  The  other  classes  decay  and  finally 
disappear  in  the.  face  of  m.odern  industry;  the  proletariat  is  its 
special  and  essential  product/*'  (12) 

"The  lower  middle  class,  the  small  manufacturer,  the 
shopkeeper,  the  artisan,  the  peasant,  all  these  fight  against  the 
bourgeoisie  to  save  from  extinction  their  existence  as  factions 
of  the  middle  class.  They  are,  therefore,  not  revolutionary,  but 
conservative.  Nay,  more,  they  are  reactionary,  for  they  try  to 
roll  badk  the  wheels  of  history."  (13). 

In  the  early  days  of  capitalism  the  wage  workers  were, 
not  conscious  of  their  historic  mission,  they  had  no  idea  of 
revolution.  Their  whole  idea  of  success  was  to  work  hard, 
save  the.ir  money  and  get  into  ibusiness.  V/hen  looking  for 
employment  they  would  take  any  job  they  could  get,  no  mat- 
ter how  long  the  hours  or  how  short  the  pay.  They  reasoned, 
"it  is  better  to  work  hard  for  small  wages  than  to  remain  idle, 
and  consume  what  you  have  saved.'*  Of  course,  the  employers, 
the  buyers  of  labor  power,  when  they  found  that  the  sellers 
of  labor  power  were  willing  to  take  any  price  offered,  didn't 
offer  much. 

As  a  result,  the  workers  soon  found  theimselves  working 
many  hours  a  day  for  very  small  pay.  They  didn't  get  enough 
to  live  and  keep  themselves  in  normal  condition,  to  say  nothing 
of  saving  anything.  They  grew  rapidly  weaker  and  smaller. 
They  were  perishing.  Then  the  unrest  began.  They  realized 
that  something  must  be  done,.  But  still  no  idea  of  revolution. 
They  reasoned  that  capitalism  was  all  right  but  it  needed  some 
improvements,  some  reforms.  The  capitalists  in  some  cases 
gave  such  improveiments  as  seemed  necessary  to  keep  from 


7 


•'killing  the  chickens  that  were  laying  the  golden  eggs."  Marx 
siaid,  speaking  of  the  English  Factory  Acts:  ^*Apart  from  the 
working  class  movement  that  daily  grew  more  threatening, 
the.  limiting  of  factory  labor  was  dictated  by  the  same  neces- 
sity which  spread  guano  over  the  English  fields.  The  same 
blind  eagerness  for  plunder  that  in  the  one  case  exhausted  the 
soil  had,  in  the  other,  torn  up  by  the  roots  the  living  force  of 
the  nation."  (14) 

But  the  workers  were  not  satisfied.  They  w)a.nted  more 
than  a  living  wage.  They  wanted  a  saving  wage.  What  hope 
was  there  for  them  if  they  could  not  save  something  for  their 
old  age?  And  how  were  they  to  get  into  business?  In  some 
cases,  the  politician  framed  up  the  old  age  pension  idea.  They 
told  the.  workers:  "With  an  old  age  pension  you  won't  need  to 
save  lanything  for  your  old  age.  When  you  get  old  the  dear 
government  will  take  care  of  you."  They  aim  to  get  the  work- 
ers to  be  satisfied  with  a  mere,  existence  wage  and  then  work 
them  to  death  before  they  have  a  chance  to  get  old. 

But  the  workers  want  to  escape  from  wage  slavery.  Some, 
of  them  soon  learned  that  the  laws  of  society  are  not  made  by 
the  subject  class,  that  reforms  are  e,ither  economically  unsound 
or  politically  impossible.  That  the  workers  can  get  only  what 
they  have  the  power  to  take.  If  they  have  the  power  to  take, 
and  begin  to  exercise  that  power,  the  capitalists  will  often  try 
to  get  /ahead  of  them  and  give,  hoping  to  get  credit  that  they 
do  not  deserve  and  deceive  the  workers  into  the  belief  that  the 
benefits  do  not  come  because,  of  their  own  organized  powers 
but  ibecause  of  kindness  in  the  hearts  of  the  capitalists.  Rest 
assured,  that  if  the  workers  allow  their  organized  power  to 
weaken,  the  hearts  of  the  capitalists  will  harden  accordingly. 
In  the  light  of  this  fact  how  foolish  it  is  for  the  workers  to 
ask  the  ciapitalists  to  give  tliem  the  shorter  working  day  or 
v/eek,  or  any  other  thing  that  they  have  the  power  to  take. 

Many  workers  have,  not  learned  these  things  yet  and  so 
much  valuable  energy  is  wasted  in  building  organization 
founded  upon  the  rights  of  labor,  the  right  to  vote,  etc.  "The 
rights  of  labor  are  only  for  times  of  relative  peace  in  the.  class 
war.  When  the  crisis  comes  these  so-called  tissues  of  civiliza- 
tion are  brushed  aside  and  the  maile;d-fist  of  the  capitalist 
class  is  thrust  in  our  faces."  (15)  Organizations  founded 
upon  the  rights  of  labor  are  built  upon  sand,  and  when  the 


8 


&torm  comes  the  winds  ;blow  the  sandy  foundation  away  and 
the  org-aniziation  collapses.  Clearly,  the  orig^anization  of  the, 
proletariat  must  he  founded  upon  the  solid  rock  of  proletarian 
power.   Liberty  and  power  are  identical. 

A  favorite  plan  of  the  workers  in  the.  early  days  was  for 
one  alone  to  ask  the  employer  for  more  pay.  It  usually  worked 
out  about  as  follows  :  One  worker  would  say  to  the  others,  *1 
lam  going  to  ask  the  boss  for  more  pay  and  if  he  doe.sn't  give 
it  to  me  I  am  going  to  quit.''  The  other  workers,  each  speak- 
ing for  himiself,  would  say,  "'Go  ahead  and  ask  him  and  if  he 
gives  it  to  you,  I  will  ask  him."  The  boss  usually  answered 
by  saying,  **No,  if  I  give  you  more,  pay  all  the  others  will  want 
more." 

Finally  the  workers  got  the  union  idea!  Then,  instead 
of  "I  want  more,"  they  went  up  together  land  said,  **We  want 
more,  and  if  we  don't  get  it  We  will  all  quit."  It  was  a  good  idea 
and  worked  well.  The  organized  workers  having  power  were 
respected  more  and,  aibove  all,  they  respected  themselves 
more.  The.  union  movement  developed  fast.  The  employers 
were  afraid  of  this  ne.w  power.  They,  'being  the  ruling  class, 
finally  passed  a  law  taking  away  from  labor  ^^'fhe  right  to 
strike" — ^^but  they  could  not  enforce  it!  The  workers  said, 
'*We  may  not  have  the  right  to  strike^  'but  we  have  the  powe.r 
to  strike !"  And  they  went  on  strike  in  protest  against  the  law 
that  tried  to  miake  it  a  crime  to  strike.  After  a  long  and  bitter 
struggle,  during  which  many  brave  union  workers  went  to 
jail,  the  right  to  strike  was  won  by  the  organized  workers. 

Thus  early  in  the  labor  movement  was  demonstrated  a 
vital  point,  one  that  should  ibe  caref  ully  noted,  and  that  is,  the 
•difference  fbetween,  and  the  relation  be.tween,  the  rights  of 
labor  and  the  powers  of  labor. 

The  unions  at  first  were  rather  smiall  autonomous  groups, 
formed  for  the  most  part  on  trade,  or  craft  lines  and  with  lit- 
tle, or  no,  idea  of  class  solidarity.  They  did  not  recognize  the 
irrepressible  class  struggle  in  society.  Their  idea  was  that 
capital  and  labor  were  {brothers.  In  other  words,  the  interest 
of  the  robbers  and  the  robbed  are  identical!  Their  only  hope 
of  escape  from  wage  slavery  was  to  *'work  hard,  save  money, 
and  get  into  busine.ss." 

With  the  development  of  machinery  and  modern  indus- 
try the  meager  savings  of  an  individual  worker  are  unable  to 


9 


cope,  in  a  business  way,  with  the  giant  combinations  of  capi- 
tal. With  the.  coming-  of  "'Big  Business,"  millions  of  petty  land 
holders,  small  shop  keepers  and  petty  bourgeoisie  generally 
are  being  crushed  out  of  business  and  forced  into  the  ranks 
of  the  proletariat. 

"In  the  sphere  of  agriculture,  modern  industry  has  a  more 
revolutionary  effect  than  elsewhere,  for  this  reason,  that  it 
[annihilates  the.  peasant,  that  bulwark  of  the  old  society,  and 
replaces  him  by  the  wage  worker."  (16) 

The  wage  working  class,  the  proletariat,  is  rapidly  increas- 
ing in  numbers  and  importance.  *They  dominate  the  ne,rve 
centers  of  the  economic  life."  (17)  They  are  the  living  parts 
of  modern  industry.  The  industries  run  whe.n  they  run  them, 
and  istop  when  they  stop.  They  are  the  only  class  that  is  alble 
to  operate  the.  modern  machinery  of  production.  "The  prole- 
tariat cannot  stir,  cannot  raise  itself  up,  without  the  whole 
superincumbent  strata  of  official  society  'being  sprung  into 
the  air."  (18)  This  great  class  is  coming!  All  other  classes 
are  going! 

'The  centering  of  the  management  of  industry  into  fewe,r 
and  fewer  hands  makes  the  trade  unions  unable  to  cope  with 
the  ever  growing  power  of  the  employing  class."  (19)  When 
one  craft  is  on  strike  all  the  other  crafts  remain  at  work  and 
help  to  break  the  strike.  When  coal  miners  are  on  strike  in 
one  district  or  country,  the.  transportation  workers  help  the 
employing  class  by  bringing  in  coal  from  other  districts  or 
countries.  Thus  the  workers  of  one  industry  scab  on  the  work- 
ers of  another  industry.  The  capitalist  class  cannot  whip  the 
v/orking  class.  They  can  only  defeat  us  so  long  as  they  can 
get  one  part  of  our  class  to  whip  the  other  part.  We  ''defeat 
one  another  in  wage  wars." 

The  employing  class,  organized  as  a  class,  in  employers' 
associations,  etc.  transfer  orders,  where  possible,  and  back  up 
each  other  in  the.  class  war.  They  know  that  if  one  group  of 
workers  fight  and  win,  other  workers  will  :be  encouraged  to 
do  likewise,  and  the  more  they  get  the  more  they  will  want. 
So,  no  matter  how  much  the  capitalists  fight  among  them- 
f;elves,  they  are  as  one  against  labor. 

Now,  we,  have,  on  la  bigger  scale,  somewhat  the  same  con- 
dition as  existed  before  the  first  labor  union  was  formed.  When 


10 


the  members  of  one  craft  ask  for  more  pay  the  employers  say: 
'If  we  give,  you  more,  then  all  the  other  crafts  will  want  more." 

From  these  conditions,  and  not  from  the  Ibrain  of  any 
savior  or  superman,  comes  the  idea  of  industrial  unionism. 
The  idea  that  the  industrial  workers  of  the  world,  the  prole- 
tariat, should  organize  as  a  class  and  back  up  each  other  in  the 
great  struggle  for  life  and  freedom. 

This  grand  idea  of  solidarity  of  labor,  a  solidarity  that 
knows  no  race,  no  creed,  no  country,  is  a  result  of  historically 
developed  conditions  and  has  been  developing  for  ye.ars  in  in- 
dustrial countries. 

Not  only  are  the  wage,  workers  getting  the  idea  of  class 
crganization  but,  because  of  the  development  of  "'big  busi- 
ness", they  are  giving  up  the  idea  of  becoming  capitalists  and, 
glory  of  glories,  they  are  ibe.coming  consciously  revolutionary! 

In  Chicago,  Illinois,  U.  S.  A.,  in  the  year  1905,  an  organi- 
zation named  "The  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World"  was 
formed.  The  present  writer  had  the  privilege  of  re.writing 
the  Preamble  of  this  organization  in  1908,  and  it  has  stood 
unchanged  from  that  day  to  this. 

A  study  of  the  Preamble  and  Constitution  of  this  or- 
ganization will  show  the  form  and  spirit  of  a  20th  century 
revolutionary  labor  organization.  The  Preamble  says  in  part, 
'•It  is  the  historic  mission  of  the  working  class  to  do  away 
with  capitalism.  The  army  of  production  must  !be  organized; 
not  only  for  the  every  day  struggle  with  capitalists,  hut  also 
to  carry  on  production  when  capitalism  shall  have  been  over- 
thrown. By  organizing  industrially  we  are  forming  the  struc- 
ture of  the  new  society  within  the  shell  of  the  old." 

Thus  the  old  society  is  pregnant  with  the  new.  The 
powers  that  rule  the  world  today  will  never  surrender  to  a 
weaker  power.  Clearly  the.  thing  to  do  is  to  build  the  power 
of  organized  labor.  To  try  to  save  the  petty  bourgeoisie 
farmers,  shop  keepers,  etc.  is  not  revolutionary  but  reaction- 
ary. Reformers  try  to  patch  up  capitalism.  Reactioneries  try 
to  roll  back  the  wheels  of  history.  Revolutionists  ibuild  the  new 
within  the  shell  of  the  old. 

Capitalism  is  rapidly  spreading  over  the  earth,  but  the 
coming  of  the  modern  world  is  the  coming  of  the,  proletariat. 

11 


As  Marx  so  well  said,  '"What  the  bourgeoisie  therefore  pro- 
duces, above  all,  /are  its  own  grave-diggers.  Its  fall  and  the 
victory  of  the  proletariat  are  eq'ually  inevitable." 

When  the  organized  power  of  the  proletariat  becomes 
greater  than  the  organized  power  of  other  classes,  then  will 
come,  the  revolution !  The  old  power  will  go  down  before  the 
greater  power  of  the  new.  Capitalism  based  on  production 
for  sale  will  give  way  to  production  for  use.  Thus  will  end  the 
world's  last  class  struggle.  The  age-long  exploitation  of  man 
by  his  fe.llowman  will  cease  forever,  and  this  will  be  the  crown- 
ing achievement  of  the  human  race. 

Industrial  Workers  of  the  World,  unite.  You  have  a 
world  and  life  itself  to  gain ! 


(I)  Frederick  Engels 
(4)     Karl  Marx 
(10)  Karl  Marx 

(II)  Karl  Marx 

(12)  Karl  Marx 

(13)  Karl  Marx 

(14)  Karl  Marx  Capital,  Page  264,  Kerr  Edition 
(16)  Karl  Marx    Capital,  Page  554,  Kerr  Edition 


12 


FREE  SPEECH  FIGHTS  OF  THE 


My  first  real  contact  with  the  I.  W.  W.,  when  I  was  a 
hopeful  young  reformer  in  St.  Louis  in  1912,  came  about  as 
the  result  of  the  Kansas  City  free  speech  fight.  Some  of  the 
boys  just  out  of  jail  dropped  in  to  undeceive  me  about  Kansas 
City's  boasted  municipal  workhouse.  They  simply  and  dra- 
matically told  the  story,  ne,w  to  me,  of  how  free  speech  really 
is  won. 

That  technique,  developed  by  the  I.  W.  W.  in  its  ten  year 
struggle  to  speak  on  the  public  streets  despite  police  orders, 
is  unique  in  American  history.  It  demonstrated  the  power- 
lessness  of  all  the  forces  of  law  and  order  in  the  face  of  men 
determined  to  fill  the  jails  if  necessary  to  win  their  right  to 
talk.  No  power  on  earth  can  beat  men  with  the  courage  to 
go  to  jail,  willingly  and  cheerfully,  for  a  principle.  Not  if 
there  are  enough  of  them. 

I  learned  of  that  technique  in  the  Kansas  City  fight;  the 
same  tactics  that  marked  the  score  of  struggles  chiefly  in 
mid-western  and  Pacific  Coast  states  in  the  years  1906  to  1916. 
First  the  gag  on  street-speaking,  the  arrests  of  the  speakers 
on  any  handy  charge,  their  conviction  and  sentence.  Then 
the  call  for  volunteers,  the  continued  stream  of  soap-boxers 
night  after  night  on  crowded  downtov/n  streets,  the  ce.aseless 
arrests,  and  then  the  city's  awakening  in  alarm  to  the  menace 
of  a  jail  filled  to  overflowing  and  new  candidates  arriving 
by  every  freight.  The  pre,s3  calls  for  stern  measures.  Cham- 
bers of  Commerce  resolve  on  emergency  committees,  patriots 
rave.  But  nothing  stops  the  invasion  nor  checks  the.  soap- 
boxing.  The  men  in  jail  won't  work;  they  will  sing  songs. 
They  hecome  front-page  copy.   Every  speech  in  court  is  print- 


By  ROGER  N.  BALDWIN 


Director,  American  Civil  Liberties  Union 


13 


ed  in  full;  every  incident  in  the,  jail  makes  drama.  Finally, 
hopeless  of  stemming  the  tide  and  having  no  more  jails,  the 
champions  of  free  speech  are  released;  the  fight  is  won.  In 
Kansas  'City,  sane  heads  in  influential  places  pointed  out  the 
futility  of  hoarding  all  these  men  at  the  city's  expense  just 
because  they  wanted  to  talk  on  the  streets,  and  the  chief  of 
police  surrendered,  agreeing  to  le.t  all  the  men  loose  on  one 
condition  as  a  face-saver, —  that  they  could  speak  freely  if 
they  would  not  abuse  the  police.  Since  they  had  no  inten- 
tion of  abusing  the  defenseless  police,  they  agreed.  ; 

I  watched  similar  tactics  at  work  in  St.  Louis  that  winter 
in  a  campaign  to  make  the  city  provide  food  and  shelter  for 
the  thousands  of  homeless  men  who  had  come  to  town  from 
the  fields  and  camps.  The  I.  W.  W.  men  dropped  into  a  res- 
taurant, ate,  and  then  presented  their  checks  to  the  cashier, 
telling  him  to  charge  them  to  the  mayor.  Arrested,  they  made 
speeches  in  court  that  broke  on  the.  front  pages.  The  town 
got  excited  over  the  prospect  of  thousands  of  men  heading  for 
St.  Louis  to  eat  on  the  mayor, — for  out  of  jail  or  in  it  that 
was  just  what  they  did.  After  a  few  score  had  made,  the  point 
clear,  the  City  Council  hastily  passed  an  emergency  bill  to 
set  up  a  lodging  house  with  free  meals,  and  the  fight  was  won. 
And  won  on  precisely  the  same  tactics,  the  same  dramatic  and 
moral  appeal  that  won  free  speech.  No  amount  of  lawful  pro- 
paganda or  public  appeals  could  have  turned  the  trick.  Cour- 
age, num'bers,  team-work  and  dra.matic  sense  did  it. 

These  fre.e  speech  fights  of  the  L  W.  W.  cropped  out 
without  planning  wherever  the  police  put  on  the  lid.  They 
rarely  had  any  relation  to  a  strike.  They  were  an  outgrowth 
of  street  propaganda  in  cities  where  organizers  were  attempt- 
ing to  recruit  members.  As  advertising  for  the  I.  W.  W.  they 
were  a  huge  success.  Thousands  of  citizens  who  had  only 
heard  remotely  of  the  organization  were  aroused  to  fear  and 
hate  by  the  menace  they  saw  to  prope.rty  interests  in  the 
•organization  of  these  ^'outcasts  of  society."  Revolutionary 
words  seemed  to  take  on  reality  when  accompanied  by  such 
v^illing  martyrdom.  The  shafts  of  revolt  hit  home  'because 
the  guardians  of  property  and  law  had  no  answer  to  the 
accusations.  Here  were  men  with  a  vision  and  nothing  to 
lose.  They  could  not  he  bought  off  nor  intimidated.  Short 
of  killing  them  there  w^as  no  answer  to  their  determination  to 


14 


sneak  save  surrender.  And  as  some  old  farmer  is  quoted  as 
paying,  "You  can't  kill  'em;  the  law  protects  'em." 

This  resistance  of  the  I.  W.  W.  boys,  combine.d  with  revo- 
lutionary propaganda  and  songs  couched  in  words  anybody 
could  understand,  aroused  passionate  prejudice.  Sober  citi- 
zens forgot  all  law  and  order;  they  called  for  blood.  And 
they  got  it.  Though  not  a  single  case  of  violence  by  a  single 
memiber  of  the  I.  W.  W.  marked  a  single  conviction  in  scores 
of  free  speech  fights,  the  violence  against  them  was  colossal. 
It  would  'be.  futile  to  record  the  ibeatings,  kidnappings,  tor- 
ture. Some  ten  men  lost  their  lives  in  these  fights.  Some- 
thing over  2,000  were  sent  to  jail  out  of  more  thousands 
arrested. 

And  yet  the.  net  effect  on  the  public  mind  was  that  the 
violence  was  chiefly  on  the  part  of  the  I.  W.  W.  or  directly 
incited  by  them.  That  the  sworn  guardians  of  the  law  and  the 
leading  citizens  were  incited  to  violence  merely  by  ideas  they 
feared  is  not  held  against  them  outside  radical  circles.  They 
did  their  patriotic  duty  against  those  seeking  to  overthrow 
socie.ty.  Charges  of  violence  against  the  I.  W.  W.  even  in  the 
total  absence  of  proof,  were  gladly  accepted  to  justify  the  vio- 
lence against  them.  I  know  of  no  movement  in  recent  history 
which  so  withstood  the  temptation  to  violent  re.prisals  as  did 
the  I.  W.  W.  in  these  free  speech  and  other  fights  to  keep  the 
organization  going.  As  a  vindication  of  the  power  of  organ- 
ized non-violent  resistance  it  is  one  of  the  outstanding  examples 
of  all  time.    Practically  every  fight  was  won. 

Of  course  the  price  paid  'by  the  organization  for  these 
victories  was  high.  Whether  they  were  worth  it  in  terms 
of  the.  purposes  of  the  I.  W.  W.  is  a  matter  of  opinion.  Many 
in  the  L  W.  W.  criticized  the  diversion  of  energy  to  a  strug- 
2:le  against  the  police  instead  of  against  the  bosses,  and  to  win- 
ning a  free  speech  that  did  not  build  unions.  To  win  the  right 
to  talk  te.nded  to  become  the  goal  rather  than  the  use  to 
which  that  right  was  put.  But  I  venture  to  appraise  the  effect 
of  the  struggle  on  the  morale  of  the  workers  as  far  more  im- 
rortant  than  its  victories.  The  exhibitions  of  solidarity,  of  the 
sacrifice,  of  the  individual  to  the  interests  of  his  class,  of  un- 
compromising purpose,  all  'built  a  personality  around  the 
I.  W.  W.  which  made  it  the  unrivalled  spokesman  of  native 
x\merican  militancy.    It  had  miore  of  the  old  revoltionary  tra- 


15 


dition  in  it,  and  in  precisely  its  original  spirit — 1776 — than 
any  moveiment  in  or  out  of  the  working  class  since.  Certainly 
no  fight  for  free  speech  before  or  since  has  approached  it  in 
determination,  dramatic  tactics  or  success  in  its  immediate 
purposes. 

One  of  the  significant  factors  in  this  struggle  was  its  al- 
most e.xclusive  isolation  in  the  I.  W.  W.  Ordinarily  free  speech 
fights  arouse  widespread  participation  by  those  not  directly 
affected  who  accept  the  old  tradition  of  "letting  them  talk." 
But  the  violent  prejudice  aroused  by  the  I.  W.  W.  scared  off 
timid  liberals.  Outside  the  Socialists  land  anarchists 
only  a  few  staunch  libertarians  championed  their  rights. 
Contriibutions  to  defense  funds  came  from  middle-class  so'urces 
in  considerable  amount,  but  they  did  not  embarrass  the  givers 
by  public  identification  with  the  I.  W.  W. 

It  is  commonly  said  that  most  of  those  who  fight  for  free 
speech  do  so  to  get  their  own  rights,  but  would  not  lift  a  finger 
to  get  such  rights  for  others.  And  it  is  charged,  with,  unhap- 
pily, considerable  evidence  to  prove  it,  that  some  who  have 
'been  loudest  in  demanding  their  own  rights  have  denied  those 
rights  to  others.  One  radical  party  breaks  up  the  meetings 
of  another.  One  A.  F.  of  L.  leader,  an  avowed  champion  of 
free  speech,  a  few  years  ago  called  for  the  prosecution  of 
the  I.  W.  W.  under  the  criminal  syndicalism  laws.  He  hired 
thugs  to  raid  their  halls  and  break  'up  their  me.etings.  But 
I  have  never  heard  of  a  single  instance  in  which  the  I.  W.  W. 
has  'broken  up  a  meeting  of  rivals  or  opponents.  They  accept 
for  others  the.  principle  of  a  tolerance  they  fought  so  hard  to 
gain. 

The  period  of  these  struggles  for  the  right  to  speak  on 
the  stre.ets  came  to  an  end  with  the  war.  Everett  was  the 
last  scene  of  significant  conflict.  With  the  war  prosecutions, 
the  energies  of  the  organization  were  directed  to  saving  It 
from  attack  by  far  more  powerful  forces  than  local  police, 
and  chambers  of  commerce.  A.nd  since  the  war,  propaganda 
on  the  soap-box  has  gone  out  of  fashion  with  the  changes 
broug-ht  about  in  industry,  in  the  tactics  of  radical  organiza- 
tions and  in  the  I.  W.  W.  itself. 

Of  the  score  of  fights,  two  stand  out  as  most  conspicuous 
because  most  dramatic  and  tragic, — ^Everett,  Wash,  in  1916 
and  San  Diego  in  1912.  Lives  were  lost  in  both;  scores  of 


16 


men  were  beaten,  tortured,  kidnapped,  deported,  moibbed, 
prosecuted.  They  are  so  different  in  cliaracter  that  they  de- 
!cerve  description, — that  at  Everett  an  exclusive  I.  W.  W.  strug- 
gle, the  other  in  San  Diego  shared  by  Socialists,  anarchists, 
liberals  and  orthodox  trade-imionists. 

The  San  Die:go  fight  was  significant  b^e^cause  of  the  long- 
continued  lawless  violence  by  the  police  and  a  citizens'  com- 
mittee of  "'vigilantes**  who  deported  and  ibeat  the  free  ispeech 
fighters;  ibecause  of  the  undaunted  resistance  of  the  I.  W.  W. 
men  who  supplied  most  of  the  recruits;  and  because  of  the 
united  front  p'ut  up  hy  organized  labor,  Socialists,  liberals  and 
even  religious  leaders.  The  active  struggle  lasted  longer  than 
any  free  speech  fight  on  re.cord—nine  months.  It  attracted 
nation-wide  attention  and  involved  iboth  state  and  federal 
governments. 

The  issue  arose  suddenly  in  Dece.miber,  1911  when  the 
San  Diego  City  Council,  in  response  to  the  urging  of  merchants, 
adopted  an  ordinance  ibarring  the  customary  street-speaking 
in  the  ce.nter  of  the  city.  Fifty  blocks  were  closed.  Socialists, 
single-taxers,  trade  unionists,  the  I.  W,  W.  and  religious  groups 
at  once  formed  the  California  Free  Speech  League  to  fight 
for  their  common  rights.  The  day  the.  law  took  effect,  40 
speakers,  including  two  lawyers,  were  arrested.  They  were 
held  without  trial  under  excessive  hail,  A  hundred  more  were 
soon  added,  jamming  the  jails.  Overcrowding,  rotten  food, 
illness,  'brutality  marked  their  confinement. 

The  I.  W.  W.  sent  out  a  call  for  men.  The  trade  unions 
pledged  support  to  the  fight.  The  reactionary  press  called 
for  hanging  or  shooting  without  trial.  The  I.  W.  W,  men  be- 
gan arriving.  The  police  threw  a  mounted  guard  along  the, 
county  line  to  turn  them  back.  In  the  course  of  the  eight 
months  of  the  fight  scores  were  seized,  beate.n,  turned  back; 
one  group  were  forced  to  kiss  the  flag  at  the  point  of  guns, 
another  to  run  a  gauntlet  of  thugs  who  ^beat  them  mercilessly. 
One  la'bor  man,  not  an  I.  W.  W.,  was  kidnapped,  taken  into 
tiie  country  and  warned  to  keep  going  on  pain  of  death  if  he 
returned.  Other  deportations  followed.  Altogether  hun- 
dreds were  seized  by  a  self-appointed  citizens'  committee — 
vigilantes — ^taken  far  out  into  one  desert,  beaten  and  warned 
not  to  return. 

17 


Mass  protest  meetings  were  held  in  San  Diego  and  Los 
Angeles.  At  one,  in  San  Diego  led  by  a  woman  evangelist, 
the  fire  hose  was  turned  on  speakers  and  audience  for  over  an 
hour,  injuring  many.  The  fight,  with  its  daily  skirmishes, 
aroused  the  press  all  over  the  state..  The  death  of  one  prisoner 
from  a  beating  put  iron  into  the  fighters.  Rising  protests  from 
all  quarters  over  the  state  prompted  Governor  Hiram  Johnson, 
to  appoint  an  official  investigator. 

Just  when  the  fight  seemed  on  its  way  to  settlement  with 
acquittals  in  co'urt,  a  clash  with  the  police  resulted  in  the  kill- 
ing of  one  I.  W.  W.,  the  wounding  of  several  more,  and  of  two 
police  officers.  Wholesale  persecution  followed.  Raids  and 
deportations  were  renewed.  A  visiting  anarchist  speaker  was 
•seized,  taken  out  into  the  country  by  vigilantes,  ibeaten,  brand- 
ed and  tarred. 

The  report  of  the  governor's  investigator,  sustaining  the 
charges  against  the  police  and  vigilantes,  together  with  a 
further  inquiry  by  the  attorney-general,  prompted  the  indict- 
ment of  leading  vigilantes.  Even  the  federal  government  or- 
dered an  investigation.  The  free  speech  fighters  resumed 
their  meetings;  distinguished  outside  speakers  came  in;  press 
support  grew.  The  men  arrested  were  finally  brought  to  trial. 
Some  were  sentenced  to  six  months.  But  arrests  stopped. 
The  vigilantes  were,  never  tried.    The  fight  was  over  and  won. 

The  conflict  in  the  seaport  lumber  town  of  Everett,  Wash- 
ington, in  1916,  in  contrast  to  the  San  Diego  struggle,  was 
short — less  than  a  month — and  it  was  an  exclusive  I.  W.  W. 
movement.  The  issue  arose  in  a  strike  of  the  A.  F.  of  L. 
shingle-weavers,  when  police  and  thugs  ibroke  up  picket  lines 
and  meetings.  The  I.  W.  W.  decided  then  to  try  its  hand 
.at  opening  up  the,  town.  Attempts  to  rent  a  hall  resulted  in 
the  arrest  and  beating  of  organizers,  who  were  run  out.  The 
leaders  then  decided  to  approach  the  city  from  the  sea.  A 
boat  was  chartered  in  Seattle.  When  it  landed  in  Everett, 
the  41  men  on  'board  were  seized  by  the  sheriff  and  his  men, 
loaded  into  trucks  and  taken  out  of  town.  There  they  were 
made,  to  run  a  gauntlet  on  a  railroad  track — kicked,  beaten 
and  stuck  with  sharp  sticks.  Driven  from  town,  they  deter- 
mined to  recruit  larger  forces.  The  week  following  300  men 
cn  two  chartered  steamers  left  Seattle.  Arriving  at  the  dock 
in  Everett,  singing  ''Hold  the  Fort  for  we  are  coming,"  they 


18 


were  met  by  a  fusillade  of  shots  and  scores  of  rifles  in  the. 
hands  of  the  sheriff  and  his  deputies,  many  of  them  recruited 
by  the  lumber  interests.  Five,  men  lay  dead  on  the  decks, 
others  fell  into  the  sea;  31  were  wounded.  Two  deputy 
sheriffs  were  killed,  16  wounde.d — ^by  crossfire,  the  defense 
contended  in  the  trials,  due  to  firing  on  the  boats  from  three 
sides.  All  the  remaining- 1.  W.  W.  men  were,  arrested  at  once, 
with  all  others  who  could  be  found  in  town,  including  three 
women.    Seventy-four  were  charged  with  murder. 

The.  dauntless  spirit  of  the  I.  W.  W.  was  evident  when 
the  very  next  day  two  men  tried  to  hold  a  street  meeting  of 
protest.  Arrested,  they  were  tortured  and  'be.aten.  Of  the 
men  charged  with  murder,  one  was  brought  to  trial  in 
Seattle  several  months  later,  and  after  two  months  acquitted. 
The  others  were  then  freed.  Not  a  single  one  of  the  scores 
of  deputies  who  fired  on  men  me.rely  seeking  to  land  in  town 
to  speak  on  the  streets,  was  arrested  or  prosecuted.  The 
sheriff  in  charge  of  them  later  got  a  state  job.  The  Everett 
fight  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  free  speech  after  the 
trials.  The  I.  W.  W.  opened  a  hall  and  held  street  meetings 
without  interference. 

San  Diego  and  Everett — not  typical  of  the  many  I.  W.  W. 
free  speech  fights,  ibut  the  ibest  evidence  of  the.  spirit  of  de- 
termination behind  them.  They  emphasize  what  Mr.  Dooley 
long  ago  said  of  rights.  ''Don't  ask  for  rights;  take.  them. 
There's  something  the  matter  with  a  right  that  is  handed  to 
you.''  And  they  illustrate  the  truth  that  law  is  only  what  its 
agents  choose  to  make  it. 

When  the  war  'began  there,  were  few  places  where  the 
I.  W.  W.  was  unable  to  keep  open  a  hall  or  to  speak  on  the 
streets.  The  war  hysteria  and  the  criminal  syndicalism  laws, 
together  with  the  federal  prosecutions,  soon  closed  most  of 
them.  The  fighting  front  of  the  organization  shifted  from  the 
streets  to  the  criminal  courts.  Shortly  in  many  states  it  be- 
came a  crime  to  be  a  member  of  the.  I.  W,  W.  Yet  after  the 
war,the  halls  opened  up  again,  though  street  speaking  was 
far  less  common.  Except  for  the  period  of  terrorism  following 
Ce.ntralia,  the  halls  stayed  open.  But  no  fight  for  free  speech 
on  the  streets  has  marked  the  years  since,  save  for  a  little 
flurry  in  Toledo. 

19 


Among  the  outstanding  free  speech  fights  of  the  1.  W.  W. 
are  the  following:  1906,  San  Francisco,  Cal.;  1909,  Missoula, 
Mont.,  Spokane,  Wash.,  New  Castle,  Pa.;  1910,  Wenatchee, 
Walla  Walla,  Wash.,  Fresno,  Cal.;  1911,  Duluth,  Minn.,  Vic- 
toria, B.  C,  Denver,  Colo.,  Superior,  Wis.,  Kansas  City,  M., 
Aberdeen,  Wash.;  1912,  San  Diego,  Cal.,  Aberdeen,  S.  D., 
New  Bedford,  Mass.,  Minneapolis,  Minn.;  1913,  Denver, 
Grand  Junction,  Colo.,  Minot,  N.  B.,  Seattle,  Wash.,  Kansas 
City,  Mo.;  1914,  Aberdeen,  S.  D. ;  1915,  Paterson,  N,  J.;  1916, 
Old  Forge,  Pa.,  Everett,  Wash. 

Noibo'dy  in  the  United  States  today,  where  free,  speech 
remains  a  challenging  issue,  in  strikes  and  out,  carries  on  the 
tactics  so  dramatically  worked  out  by  the  I.  W.  W.  They 
wrote  a  chapter  in  the  history  of  American  liberties  like  that 
of  the  struggle  of  the  Quakers  for  freedom  to  meet  and  wor- 
ship, of  the  militant  suffragists  to  carry  their  propaganda  to 
the  seats  of  government,  and  of  the  Abolitionists  to  be.  heard. 

Far  more  effective  is  this  direct  action  of  open  conflict 
than  all  the  legal  maneuvres  in  the  courts  to  ge,t  rights  that  no 
government  willingly  grants.  Power  wins  rights,— the  power 
of  determination  backed  by  willingness  to  suffer  jail  or  vio- 
lence, to  get  them.  The  little  minority  of  the  working  class 
represented  in  the  I.  W.  W.  blazed  the  trail  in  those  ten  year^i 
of  fighting  for  free  speech  which  the  entire  American  working 
class  must  in  some  fashion  follow.  Without  that  spirit  no 
revolutionary  program  can  succeed.  Without  it,  the  elemen- 
tary rights  of  agitation  remain  a  myth. 


20 


HOW  THE  LW.W.  DEFENDS 

LABOR 


While  education  has  be.en  its  chief  achievement,  militant 
industrial  unionism  in  America  has  in  the  main  followed  two 
major  lines— -comib at  and  defense.  Both  of  these  have  been 
spectacular  in  the  extreme.  At  every  point  where  the  Indus- 
trial Workers  of  the  World  contacted  the  powerful  and  firmly 
entrenched  employing  interests,  friction  developed  on  a  scale, 
hitherto  unprecedented.  With  its  revolutionary  ideal  and 
deeply  rooted  scepticism  of  all  methods  save  those  of  the  direct 
action  of  the  workers  at  the  point  of  production,  the  I.  W.  W., 
Bs  might  be  supposed,  was  from  the  'beginning  destined  for  a 
stormy  career.  In  fact,  the  first  ye?ar  of  its  existence,  was 
marked  'by  one  of  the  most  outstanding  labor  defense  cases 
in  history. 

The  Moyer,  Haywood,  Pettibone,  case  was  in  reality  the 
aftermath  of  the  great  strike  of  the  Western  Federation  of 
Miners,  which  culminated  in  the  gigantic  frame-up  against 
thre.e  of  the  officers  of  the  Union.  On  Jianuary  19,  1906  Wil- 
liam D.  Haywood,  Charles  Moyer  and  George  A.  Pettibone 
were  arrested  in  Colorado  and  spirited  away  to  Idaho,  No 
opportunity  was  given  these  men  to  see,  their  families  or  to 
consult  lawyers.  One  Harry  Orchard,  a  stoolpigeon,  made 
a  purported  confession  in  which  the  three  miners  were,  accused 
of  conspiracy  to  cause  the  murder  of  ex^Governor  Frank  Stue- 
nenburg  of  Idaho.  This  now  famous  case  was  made  a  matter 
of  national  importance  by  the  energetic  measures  used  by  the 
defense.  Publicity,  both  in  the  labor  and  capitalist  press, 
resulted  in  stirring  up  public  opinion  all  over  the  nation  and 
the  world.  The  I.  W.  W.  learned  its  first  big  lesson  in  the 
tactics  of  lahor  defense  from  this  case — one  that  was  to  ibe  of 
utmost  value  in  the  years  to  come.    Pu'blicity  won  the  day. 


By  RALPH  CHAPLIN 


Labor  Poet,  Artist  and  Speaker 


21 


Eugene  V.  Debs'  ringing  slogan,  "If  they  hang  Bill  Hay- 
wood they've  got  to  hang  me."  became  the  battle  cry  that 
was  echoed  in  many  parts  of  the  world.  Clarence  Darrow's 
masterly  plea  for  acquittal  prevailed  over  the  narrowness  and 
prejudice,  of  the  times.  The  acquittal  of  Haywood  resulted 
in  the  dropping  of  the  case  against  the  others. 

In  July,  August  land  September,  1909  the  1.  W.  W.  led 
the  strike  of  8,000  workers  at  the  Pressed  Steel  Car  Company 
at  McKees  Rocks,  Penn.  These  men  represented  sixtee.n  na- 
tionalities. The  notorious  state  constabulary  or,  as  the  strik- 
ers called  them,  the  American  Cossacks,  were  called  out.  An 
amazing  series  of  brutalities  resulted.  In  order  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  injustices  being  perpetrated  against  helpless  work- 
ers, the  strike  committee  issued  an  ultimatum  which  focused 
ihe  attention  of  the  nation  on  the  scene.  Ben  Williams,  editor 
of  Solidarity,  and  a  n'umber  of  fellow  workers  had  been  ar- 
rested. Meetings  were  held  all  over  the  country  land  defense 
funds  were  raised.  The  true  story  of  the  eleven  weeks  of  police, 
brutality  was  given  to  the  nation.  The  ''Cossacks"  made  one 
last  desperate  attempt  to  break  the  strike  with  customary 
violence.  A  terrible  encounter  ensued  in  which  the.  state 
policemen  were  forced  to  seek  shelter  in  the.  company  plants. 
The  strike  ended.  The  defendants  were  released.  A  similar 
story  on  a  smaller  scale  was  repeated  in  1912-13  in  Little  Falls, 
N.  Y. 

While  the  Spokane  free  speech  fight  is  mentioned  else- 
w^here,  the  defense  features  are  worthy  of  note.  Six  hundred 
members  of  the  L  W.  W.  were  arrested  in  Spokane,  Washing- 
ton, in  the,  latter  part  of  1909.  In  order  to  put  their  purpose 
on  the  front  page  of  the  daily  papers,  more  than  200  of  them 
went  on  a  hunger  strike  of  from  eleven  to  thirteen  days.  The 
persistence  of  the  hunger  strikers,  coupled  with  the  attendant 
pu'blicity,  forced  the  officials  of  the  city  to  yield.  In  San 
Diego,  Kansas  City  and  other  cities  which  sought  to  deny 
workers  the  right  of  free  speech,  similar  tactics  were,  used  with 
similar  results. 

In  1912  a  strike  occurred  in  the  textile  mills  at  Lawrence, 
Massachusetts.  This  was  another  of  the  great  strikes  of  labor 
history.  About  30,000  workers  speaking  27  different  lan- 
guages participated.  The  strike  was  well  organized  and 
splendidly  directed.    This  and  the  Paterson,  N.  J.  strike,  un- 


22 


dou'btedly  reveal  Wm.  D.  Haywood  at  his  best  in  the  role  of 
strike  strategist.  Elizabeth  Gurley  Flynn,  the  "Joan  of  Arc" 
of  the.  American  Labor  Movement,  and  Joe  Ettor  and  Arturo 
Giovannitti,  for  their  courage  and  ability,  toecame  figures  of 
national  prominence  during  this  strike.  The  two  latter  were 
falsely  accused  of  the  murder  of  a  little  girl  who  was  killed 
In  what  wais  alleged  to  have  been  a  street  riot.  Ettor,  Giovan- 
nitti land  another  Italian  named  Caruso,  were  held  in  jail  a 
5^e;ar.  The  result  of  the  trial  was  an  acquittal.  The  defense 
work  had  been  very  extensive  in  scope.  Public  opinion,  which 
rejoiced  in  the  victory  of  the  strikers,  was  emphatic  in  de- 
manding the  rele.ase  of  the  defendants.  It  was  discovered 
that  one  of  the  mill  operators  had  planted  evidence  to  help 
convict  the  unjustly  accused  men.  This  operator  afterwards 
was  reported  as  having  committed  suicide  in  Florida. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1913  another  great  textile  strike 
under  I.  W.  W.  leadership  occurred  in  Paterson,  N.  J.  The 
Doherty  mill,  owned  chie.fly  by  Japanese  capitalists,  was  one 
of  the  largest  units  involved.  All  the  hoary  subterfuges  of 
the  employing  class  were  used  to  discredit  the  strikers;  the 
frame-up,  pjatriotism,  the  spy  system  and  open  police  brutality. 
This  strike  produced  some  of  the  most  spectacular  defense 
features  in  labor  history.  At  one  time  the  entire  child-popula- 
tion of  Paterson  was  removed  to  other  cities  to  ^be  looked  after 
until  the  end  of  the  strike,  thus  leaving  their  parents  free  to 
endure  the  hardships  of  the  industrial  struggle  without  wor- 
rying about  their  offspring.  Bob  Fitzsimmons,  the.  fighter 
and  Bertha  Kalich,  the  actress  contributed  their  talent  at 
benefit  performances.  But  the  famous  PEterson  Pageant  was 
by  far  the  greatest  strike.-ibenefit  and  defense-p'ublicity  stunt 
on  record.  Madison  Square  Garden  in  New  York  City  was 
^e  scene  of  a  colossal  reproduction  of  the  entire  strike.  An- 
other striking  feature,  of  defense  publicity  was  Bill  Haywood's 
exposure  of  the  millowners  methods  of  processing  silk  for 
profitable  sale.  This  process  is  known  as  "dynamiting"  and 
consisted  of  the  loading  of  the  fabric  with  leiad,  tin  or  zinc. 
These  adulterations  were  exposed,  to  the  consternation  of  the 
textile  barons  and  the  advantage  of  the  strikers. 

The  Ford  and  Suhr  case  is  another  of  the  great  mile- 
stones in  the  story  of  labor  defense.  In  Wheatland,  California, 
in  1913  a  strike  occurred  in  the  height  of  the  hop  picking 

23 


season.  Richard  Ford  and  Herman  Suhr  were  arrested 
charged  with  the  murder  of  Prose.cuting  Attorney  Manwell 
and  Deputy  Sheriff  Riordan.  The  trial  aroused  widespread 
interest  and  resulted  in  conviction  for  the  death  of  Manwell. 
But  the  terrible  conditions  prevailing  in  the  hop  fields  were 
exposed.  For  twelve  years  agitation  for  the  release  of  Ford 
and  Suhr  was  carried  on  in  the  face  of  the  most  intense  (bitter- 
ness on  the  part  of  the  California  ruling  class  and  its  prose- 
cutors. Ford  was  released  on  parole  in  19:26.  Re-arrested 
and  tried  again  for  murder;  this  time  with  a  verdict  of  ac- 
quittal. Suhr  was  released  in  1926.  The  trial  was  handled  by 
the  California  Branch  of  the.  General  Defense  Committee 
which  obtained  the  signtatures  of  a  majority  of  the  trial  jury 
to  a  petition  stating  that  they  believed  the  convictions  amount- 
ed to  a  miscarriage  of  justice. 

The  strike  of  the  Southern  lumberjacks  which  occurred 
in  1913  offers  another  example  of  the  benefits  to  labor  of  well 
organized  defense  work.  Intolerable  conditions  had  driven 
the  lumber  workers  to  revolt.  The  strike  was  organized  and 
directed  by  the  I.  W.  W.  A  riot  was  planned  and  executed 
iby  compiamy  directors  and  gun-men.  Fifty-eight  men  were 
arrested  and  thrown  into  jaiL  Four  men  belonging  to  the 
A.  F.  of  L.  were  killed  outright  in  a  daylight  massacre.  At- 
tempt to  organize  was  the  only  reason  given  or  required. 
Blacklist  was  used  freely.  Men  and  women  were  driven  out 
of  the,  country.  The  58  men  were  confined  in  jail  for  months 
until  news  of  the  frightful  conditions  spread  to  all  parts  of  the 
country.  Thus  the  I.  W.  W.  opened  up  the  semi-fuedal  South 
for  labor  organization. 

The  ciase  of  Rangel  and  Cline,  like  the  one  mentioned 
above,  attracted  a  great  deal  of  attention.  The  widest  pub- 
licity was  given  to  the  facts  in  the  case.,  but  like  Ford  and 
Suhr,  the  two  men  were  forced  to  serve  a  large  part  of  their 
time  in  prison.  In  1914,  Charles  Cline,  an  i.  W.  W.  and  a 
Mexican  fellow  worker  named  Rangel,  were  arrested  near  the 
border.  They  were  charged  with  violation  of  the  neutrality 
act  for  attempting  to  join  forces  with  Mexican  rebels  across 
the  Rio  Grande  who  were  attempting  to  overthrow  the  tyranny 
cf  Porfirio  Diaz,  dictator  of  Mexico.  Both  served  thirteen 
years.    The  wide  interest  aroused  by  their  case  was  still  alive 


24 


whe,n  both  men  were  pardoned  by  the  Governor  of  Tems, 
'*Ma"  Ferguson. 

The  famous  Joe  Hill  case  occurred  in  Utah  in  1914.  It 
was  a  classical  case  of  the  *'frame-up"  used  against  labor.  A 
f.trike  against  the  Utah  Construction  Company  occurred  at 
Bingham  Canyon.  It  was  a  success.  The  I.  W.  W.  song  writer, 
Joe  Hill,  was  the  chief  agitator  and  organizer.  He  was  arrest- 
ed in  Salt  Lake  City  for  the  murder  of  a  local  groceryman 
named  Morrison.  He  was  tried  and  convicted;  appealed  and 
lost.  Gurley  Flynn  visited  Joe  Hill  in  jail,  and  urged  him  to 
accept  the  defense  of  the  organization.  Then  started  a  period 
of  defense  activity  only  paralleled  by  the  Sacco-Vanzetti 
case.  The  Governor's  mansion  was  inundated  with  letters 
and  telegrams.  The  Swedish  Ambassador  and  even  President 
Wilson  were  induced  to  appeal  for  clemency  for  Joe  Hill. 
Protest  meetings  were  held  in  all  parts  of  the.  world.  On  No- 
vemher  17,  1915  Joe  Hill  faced  a  firing  squad  in  the  Utah 
penitentiary.  His  last  message  was  *'Don't  mourn  for  me; 
organize.''  Joe.  Hill's  body  was  sent  to  Chicago  and  cremated 
at  Graceland  Cemetery.  His  funeral  was  one  of  the  liarge&t 
in  the  history  of  Chicago. 

The  Everett  Massacre  occurred  in  1916.  Striking  shingle 
weavejs  were  denied  the  right  to  speak  on  the  streets  of 
Everett,  Wn.  Lumber  workers  were,  beaten  with  ax-handles  and 
driven  out  of  town.  Loggers  from  Seattle  attempted  to  come 
to  Evejett  by  steamship  to  hold  a  meeting.  These  were  met 
as  the  steamer  Veroma  reached  the  city  docks,  by  a  fusillade 
of  bullets  from  gun-men  about  the  wharves.  Two  hundred 
and  ninety-four  workers  were  arrested.  Seventy-four  were 
charged  with  murder  of  a  gunman  named  Jefferson  Beard, 
who  was  killed  by  crossfire  of  the  sheriff's  forces.  The  in- 
dictment was  reduced  and  Tom  Tracy  went  to  trial.  George 
Vanderveer  of  Seattle  was  the  defense  attorney.  Great  pub- 
licity wias  given  this  case.  The  defendant  was  acquitted.  The 
remaining  men  were  freed. 

The  Mesaba  strike  in  1916  ran  true  to  form.  The  entire 
iron  range  was  flooded  with  gunmen.  Sixteen  thousand 
miners  were  involved.  There  were  kidnappings,  sluggings 
and  other  forms  of  police,  'brutality,  culminating  in  the  arrest 
of  three  organizers  for  libel.  These  men  had  said  in  open 
meeting  that  company  gun-men  had  killed  a  striking  miner 


25 


r.amed  John  Aliar.  They  were,  freed  later.  Another  miner 
sent  to  the  penitentiary  at  Stillwater,  Minn,  was  finally  re- 
leased, largely  as  a  result  of  defense  activities.  .| 

Among  the,  war-time  cases  the  one  tried  at  Chicago  was 
the  largest.  An  attempt  was  made  under  the  cloiak  of  the 
"war  for  -democracy''  to  crush  the  I.  W.  W.  once  and  for  all, 
by  arresting  all  of  its  officials  and  many  of  the  most  active 
workers.  One  hundred  and  thirtee,n  were  put  on  trial.  Eighty- 
seven  were  confined  in  the  Cook  County  jail  for  a  year  awiait- 
ing  trial.  The  defense  was  hampered  in  every  conceivable 
way.  One  hundred  men  were  convicted  and  sentenced  to  from 
a  year  and  a  day  to  twenty  years.  The  expense  of  the  trial 
and  defense  publicity  work  were  enormous.  During  the  first 
year  of  imprisonment  only  a  little  over  ?7,000  had  been  raised 
for  the  defense.  When  Bill  Haywood  was  released  on  bail 
he  suggested  the  organization  of  a  general  defense  committee. 
The  famous  letter  '"Tn  Memoriam"  bordered  with  black,  which 
was  the  first  thing  Haywood  got  out,  brought  in  $9,000  in 
about  a  month.  While  the  Wichita  and  Sacramento  cases 
were  going  on  another  famous  document,  "'With  Drops  of 
Blood,"  was  published.  The  first  month's  returns  from  this 
were  over  $22,000. 

The  General  Defense  Committee  was  using  profitably  all 
the  experiences  of  the  past  in  I.  W.  W.  defense  work.  Speak- 
ers were  sent  to  all  parts  of  the  country.  Each  member  re- 
leased from  prison  on  bail  was  immediately  sent  on  the  firing 
line.  The  capital  building  in  Washington  was  inundated  with 
protests.  A  million  special  protest  cards  were  circulated  and 
3,000,000  Amnesty  by  Christmas"  stamps  were  prepared  and 
used.  In  addition  to  these,  hundre.ds  of  thousands  of  pamph- 
lets and  leaflets  were  circulated,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the 
Government  to  obstruct  such  work.  The  ''Amnesty  by  Christ- 
mas" drive  of  the  General  Defense  Committee  in  the  Fall  of 
1923  is  conceded  to  have  been  an  important  factor  in  securing 
a  general  release  of  political  prisoners. 

The  members  of  the  I.  W.  W.  arrested  in  Kansas  were 
first  arrested  and  charged  with  vagrancy.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered they  were  picked  up  in  the  oil  fields  suspected  of  try- 
ing to  organize  the  oil  workers,  thus  interfering  with  the 
profits  of  that  great  patriot,  Harry  Sinclair!  These  men  were 
held  in  jail  two  years  awaiting  triaL    The  original  charge  of 


26 


vagrancy  was  changed  on  March  6  to  violation  of  the  Lever 
Act,  which  was  quashed.  New  indictment  was  drawn  charg- 
ing 38  men  with  conspiracy  prior  to  and  during  their  confine.- 
ment  in  jiail.  Men  convicted  in  the  Chicago  case  were  named 
as  co-conspirators.  Numerous  attempts  made  by  defense 
counsel  to  quash  the.  indictment  were  finally  successful,  but 
again  a  new  indictment  was  drawn  with  certain  changes  made 
in  it.  Men  went  to  trial  on  December  1,  1919.  Verdict  of 
guilty  rendered  with  sentence^  ranging  from  three  to  nine 
years.  During  their  confinement  in  jail  two  went  insane;  one 
died  from  influenza;  three  contriacte.d  tuberculosis. 

The  Sacramento  Case,  in  1917  also  started  with  an  explo- 
sion at  the  rear  of  the  gubernatorial  mansion,  members  of  the 
I.  W.  W.  being  charged  with  the.  crime.  Charles  M.  Fickert, 
then  running  for  re-election  used  this  as  political  capital.  Every 
I.  W.  W.  in  town  was  arrested.  Five  days  after  the  explo- 
sion two  I.  W.  W.  members  were,  arrested.  They  had  a  pack- 
age containing  nine  sticks  of  dynamite,  five  cakes  of  soap  and 
a  quantity  of  'bacon.  They  ,said  they  were  going  prospecting. 
Evidence  was  lacking,  so  evidence,  was  manufactured,  with  the 
help  of  the  daily  press.  Defendants  were  charged  with  vio- 
lating every  war  act  and  with  numerous  fires  occurring  in 
California.  Defe.ndants  'became  convinced  they  could  expect 
no  justice  and  refused  to  employ  counsel,  using  the  *'silent 
defense"  method.  A.  W.  Fox,  Theodora  Pollock  and  Basile 
Saffores  employed  counsej  )and  were  let  off  with  fines.  The 
others  were  convicted  on  all  counts  and  sentenced  to  from  one 
to  ten  years. 

The  California  Syndicalism  cases  began  after  the.  pass- 
age of  the  law  in  the  Spring  of  1919.  Eight  members  of  the 
I.  W.  W.  were  prosecuted.  Trials  of  I.  W.  W.  members  oc- 
curred for  a  period  of  over  five  years,  accusations  being  filed  in 
twenty  counties;  actual  triials  were  held  in  fourteen.  Five 
liundred  and  thirty-one  persons  were  accused  by  indictment; 
292  dismissed  without  trial;  264  were  actually  tried;  164  ac- 
tually convicted.  Thre.e  professional  witnesses — ^^Dymond, 
Coutts  and  Townsend — appeared  against  the  accused  at  all 
trials,  their  method  ibeing  to  recount  their  lacts  while,  members 
themselves  of  the  organization.  No  attempt  was  made  to 
check  up  their  statements.  The  I.  W.  W.  started  a  state.-wide 
campaign  of  organization  and  defense  literature.    Tom  Con- 


27 


nors  was  indicted  on  a  cliarge  of  tampering"  with  la  juryman. 
These  trials  brought  to  light  the  character  of  the  I.  W.  W.  as 
an  industrial  union.  To  counteract  the  true  facts  and  keep 
them  from  reaching  the  public,  the  injunction  was  resorted 
to,  which  meant  that  the  accused  would  have,  no  right  to  a 
jury  trial.  Direct  violence  upon  the  part  of  the  predatory 
interests  resulted  in  a  mob  raid  upon  the  hall  of  the  I.  W.  W. 
at  San  Pedro,  California,  a  number  of  people,  including  several 
children  being  severely  injured.  A  grand  jury  investigation 
whitewashed  the  entire  business.  The  I.  W.  W.  continued  to 
function  with  more,  vigor  than  ever,  and  suibsequently  all  crimi- 
nal syndicalism  cases  were  dismissed. 

In  the  Centralia,  Wiashington  case  of  Novemher  11,  1919, 
the  charge  was  made  that  an  American  Legion  man  had  been 
killed  by  members  of  the  I.  W.  W.  in  Centralia.  Ten  men  were 
involved.  The  trouble  was  the  result  of  the  Legion  men  going 
'^ut  of  the  line  of  march  to  attack  the  I.  W.  W.  hall.  In  the 
skirmish  that  ensued  Lieutenant  Warre.n  O.  Grimm  a;nd  three 
other  Legionnaires  were  killed.  On  March  13,  1920  a  verdict 
was  returned  that  wa,s  unacceptable  to  the  court  and  the  jury 
returned  with  new  instructions.  The  new  verdict  rendered 
was  "guilty  of  murder  in  the  second  degree"  Britt  Smith,  Bert 
Bland,  Commodore  Bland,  Ray  Becker,  James  Mclnerney, 
Euge.ne  Barnett  and  John  Lamb ;  Mike  Sheehan  and  Elmer 
Smith  were  acquitted;  Loren  Roberts  was  adjudged  insane. 

Since  the  imprisonment  of  the  Centralia  defendants  in- 
creasing efforts  have  been  made  to  secure  their  release,.  Nu- 
merous books  and  leaflets  have  been  circulated.  Protest 
meetings  have  been  held  regularly  land  influential  organiza- 
tions and  publicists  have  been  interested  and  induced  to  make 
an  effort  to  secure  belated  justice.  Statements  exonerating 
the  defendants  have  Ibe.en  obtained  from  trial  jurymen.  It  has 
been  a  hard  and  bitterly  contested  struggle  from  the  begin- 
ning. 

Legal  defense,  publicity,  prison  relief  and  relief  funds  for 
the  families  of  imprisoned  men  have  been  supplied  wherever 
seeded  by  the  General  Defense  Committee  from  the  beginning. 


28 


BUILD  FOR  POWER 


By  C.  E.  PAYNE 

I.  W.  W.  Editor,  Organizer  and  One  of  the  Founders 

'''Not  orthodox,  ibut  well  planned." 

In  the.  fewest  words  possible  that  may  be  taken  as  an 
explanation  of  the  methods  of  the  strikes  of  the  I.  W.  W.  in 
the  Pacific  Northwest  in  the  past  quarter  century.  The  strikes 
were  not  orthodox  in  that  they  did  not  follow  any  se,t  rule, 
neither  were  they  called  by  any  officials. 

.  They  were  planned,  and  very  carefully,  in  that  they  we.re 
considered  from  every  angle  by  the  men  who  did  the  striking, 
and  when  calle.d  off  the  decision  as  to  time  and  terms  of  end- 
ing was  made  'by  the  strikers  on  their  own  initiative. 

There  were  few  questions  of  what  course  any  officials 
would  take.  Officials  followed  instructions  as  a  matter  of 
course..  Instead,  there  were  reports  that  *'We  tightened  up 
cur  picket  line,"  or  "The  camp  is  out  solid,"  or  '"Not  a  scab 
gretting  through."  The  slogan — had  these  ainorthodox  strikers 
stooped  to  slogans— might  have  been,  "We  run  this  strike." 

There  we.re  two  elements  in  the  making  of  these  strug- 
gles, outside  that  of  the  unbearable  industrial  conditions  which 
were  the  prime  cause.  The  first  was  a  spirit  of  independence 
on  the  part  of  the  strikers.  On  this  fertile  soil  the  delegates 
of  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World  sov/ed  the  seed  of 
industrial  solidarity.  Before  the.y  came,  protests  had  been  an 
individual  matter.  When  a  man  did  not  like  conditions  he 
had  quit  one  job  and  sought  another.  But  the  delegates  pro- 
claimed that  "In  Union  there  is  strength," 

The,  new  idea  took  root  and  flourished.  In  the  spring  of 
1907  a  strike  of  saw  mill  workers  in  Portland,  Oregon,  broiught 
the  organization  vividly  to  the  attention  of  the  Northwest 
workers.  The  strike  was  a  success  in  one  respect,  the  mills 
were  tied  up  solidly. 

In  another  respect  it  was  not  so  successful.  The  workers 
did  not  yet  have  the  idea  they  must  stick  on  the  picket  lines 


29 


and  see  that  none,  but  they  should  go  hack  to  work.  So  many 
left  that  not  enough  remained  to  do  picket  duty,  and  the  few 
who  stayed  called  the  strike  off,  allowing  the  mills  to  be  filled 
with  unorganized  men.  The  workers  struck  as  one,  but  con- 
sidered this  their  full  duty.  They  did  not  yet  understand  that 
workers  must  claim  a  proprietary  right  in  the  jobs,  even  in 
the  industry  itself. 

In  June,  190i8,  lumber  companies  in  Western  Montana 
cut  wages  in  the  saw  mills.  They  were  working  on  the  nine 
hour  day  and  there  was  no  dispute  on  that  point.  The  strike 
started  July  1  at  Bonner  and  the  mills  were  closed  until  next 
spring.  The  istrike  was  lost  and  the  reduced  scale  held  until 
1916,  when  lumber  pilers  asked  25  cents  a  day  increase.  A 
short  strike  reisulted  which  gained  an  increase  of  19  cents  a 
day.  In  1913  there  had  been  a  strike  to  hold  the  nine  hour 
•day,  which  was  won. 

A  number  of  free  speech  fights  in  the  Northwest  in  1909, 
1910  and  1911  had  focused  attention  on  the  I.  W.  W.  By  the 
spring  of  1912  the  delegates,  speakers  and  writers  had  envi- 
sioned to  the  workers  the  possibility  of  action  in  their  own 
interest.  The.  cartoons  of  Ernest  Riebe,  '"'Mr.  Block,"  were 
a  large  factor  in  showing  the  hoplessness  of  meekly  accept- 
ing conditions  imposed  by  the  employers. 

In  March,  1912,  a  strike  of  saw  mill  workers  in  Grays 
Harbor  was  bitterly  fought  for  about  a  month.  Men  and  wom- 
en formed  solid  picket  lines  which  the  companies  could  not 
break.  As  a  last  resort  to  break  the  strike,  many  of  the  active 
strikers  were  kidnapped  and  deported  from  the  district,  and 
the  companies  sent  gun  men  and  city  officials  to  close  the  Fin- 
nish and  Croatian  halls  where  the  strikers  had  headquarters. 
Those  halls  were  nailed  up  with  two  inch  planks  and  heavy 
•spikes,  and  the  owning  clubs  were  not  allowed  to  reopen  them 
until  several  weeks  later  under  threat  of  having  them  burned. 

On  March  28,  1912,  a  strike  began  on  the  Canadian  Nor- 
thern construction  work.  All  activity  in  this  strike  was  car- 
ried on  by  the  I.  W.  W.  and  large  numbers  of  men  joined  while, 
it  was  going  on.  Considerable  gains  were  made  in  wages  and 
conditions,  but  the  greatest  gain  was  in  the  se;nse  of  power 
that  arose.  Five  years  later  that  feeling  of  power  swept 
40,000  lumber  workers  into  the  most  spectacular  strike,  the 
Northwest  has  ever  seen. 


30 


In  a  strike  of  shingleweavers  in  1916,  members  of  the 
I.  W.  W.  had  give.n  much  help  to  the  Shingleweavers  Unioii. 
The  lumber  companies  in  Everett  tried  to  drive  every  union 
man,  and  especially  the  I.  W.  W.,  from  the  town.  In  making 
that  effort  they  caused  the.  massacre  of  November  5  on  the 
Everett  dock,  then  charged  74  workers  with  murder  to  cover 
their  own  g"uilt.  Thousands  of  Northwest  workers  joined  the 
I.  W.  W.  in  protest  against  this  trave.sty.  Tom  Tracy  was 
the  only  one  of  the  men  ever  brought  into  court.  He  was  ac- 
quitted May  5,  1917,  after  a  trial  lasting  two  months. 

Excellent  generalship  was  used  in  the  strike.s  of  1917. 
No  action  was  attempted  in  the  winter.  When  water  began 
to  run  high  in  the  spring,  the  river  drivers  in  the  "'short  log" 
district  of  Western  Montana,  Idaho  and  Northeast  Washing- 
ton demanded  higher  wages,  and  in  many  cases  gained  them. 
Where  they  did  not  gain,  the.  companies  lost  heavily  in  logs 
left  on  the  shores  of  the  streams  to  he  damaged  by  worms 
and  rot  during  the  summer.  In  several  woods  camps  in  this 
district  strikes  started  in  June,  against  the  rotten  conditions 
and  gained  some  headway.  But  no  attempt  was  made  until 
July  to  draw  the  loggers  of  Western  Washington  and  Oregon 
into  the  strike. 

Camps  and  mills  in  the  Northwest  close  one  to  three  weeks 
in  late  June  and  early  July.  When  the  lay-off  comes,  men 
from  every  camp  lare  in  Spokane,  Seattle,  Tacoma,  Portland 
and  Vancouver.  There  men  hear  of  conditions  in  all  camps 
and  mills  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Discussion  about 
''solidarity  for  better  conditions''  had  been  carried  on  for 
years.  Speakers  and  organizers  now  held  many  meetings  in 
the  cities  and  towns  during  the  lay-off,  explaining  principles 
and  tactics  to  willing  listeners. 

When  the  camps  reopened,  delegates  and  organizers  went 
into  the  woods,  picking  up  the  few  loose,  ends  of  organization 
work  and  making  ready  for  the  next  attack.  Every  camp  op- 
erated with  a  full  crew.  But  in  three  weeks  after  they  start- 
ed, hundreds  of  camps  were  silent.  Thousands  of  men  came 
out  and  picketed  strategic  points.  Committees  were  elected 
to  have  immediate  charge  of  activities.  There  were  central 
strike  committees  in  all  lumlber  centers,  and  then  one  general 
strike  committee  for  the  lumber  industry  of  the  Northwest. 


31 


The  demands  were  generally  for  the  eight  hour  day,  50  cents 
a  day  increase  in  wages  and  better  camp  conditions. 

The  saw  mill  workers  were  not  on  strike  with  the  woods 
workers  and  no  effort  was  made  to  stop  the  mills.  They  soon 
ran  out  of  logs  and  had  to  close.  Some  companies  tried  to 
have  their  mill  crews  cut  logs,  hut  the  effort  was  a  failure.. 
Some  of  the  bosses  in  the  Lumbermen's  Aissociation  wanted  to 
.settle  and  they  held  many  acrimonious  sessions.  When  one 
of  their  meetings  adjourned  one  ,great  lumber  baron  came  out 
with  a  blacked  eye.  But  they  had  posted  bonds  that  no  com- 
pany might  grant  the  demands  of  the  strikers  until  the  Asso- 
ciation should  permit,  so  the  strike  went  on.  The  workers 
were,  fighting  the  Lumbermen's  Association,  not  a  number  of 
individuals. 

When  the  strike  had  been  on  about  two  months,  the  ques- 
tion of  further  financing  came  up.  Very  little  money  had 
been  received  from  outside  sources.  The  strikers  decided  to 
* 'transfer  the  strike  to  the  job.'*  That  is,  go  back  to  work  and 
take  the  eight  hour  day,  which  was  the  principal  issue.  Wage 
increases  of  more  than  the.  demands  had  been  offered,  and  the 
companies  stood  ready  to  make  some  camp  improvements,  so 
the  working  time  was  practically  the  only  one  to  gain,  and  all 
there  was  of  that  was  to  take  it. 

Whe.n  the  strikers  considered  the  time  opportune,  they 
instructed  their  committees  to  call  the  strike  off.  Woods 
workers  formed  themselves  into  crews  and  applied  for  jobs. 
They  seemed  satisfied  with  their  holiday  and  ready  to  work. 
Things  appeared  right,  until  eight  hours  had  been  worked. 
In  some  instances  men  worked  one  day  on  the  ten  hour  sched- 
ule, but  mostly  the  eight  hour  day  was  taken  at  first. 

Then  came  the  test  of  power.  Some,  crews  were  dis- 
charged when  they  first  stopped  work  at  the  end  of  eight 
hours.  But  the  companies  were  at  heavy  expense  in  preparing 
for  operation,  had  the  overhead  costs  for  foremen  and  other 
items^  and  had  stocked  np  with  fresh  meats,  fruits  and  vege.- 
tables.  Many  thousands  of  dollars  would  be  lost  by  discharg- 
ing the  men,  so  some  companies  gave  in  at  first.  Others  dis- 
charged one  or  more  crews  before  they  realized  all  would 
act  the  same,  but  they  finally  accepted  the  eight  hour  day  as 
an  established  fact. 


32 


The.  improvements  in  camp  conditions  cost  not  less  than 
$25  for  e.ach  of  the  40,000  workers  affected,  an  outlay  of  a 
million  dollars.  Two  hours  time  off  the  work  day  reduced 
the  value  of  the  output  by  at  least  a  dollar  per  man  and  the 
wage  increase  added  /another  dollar  to  the  expense  account, 
making  well  over  $80,000  a  day  extra  cost  to  the  companies. 
No  wonder  the  lumber  ibarons  raged  like  wild  beasts  in  Cen- 
tral! a  on  Novemiber  11,  1919. 

There  were  many  smaller  strikes  in  the  construction  and 
lumber  camps  of  the  Northwest  from  1917  until  the  spring  of 
1923.  Each  had  its  individual  cause,  but  all  were  to  resist 
encroachments  by  the  'bosses  on  what  had  be.en  won  in  wages 
and  conditions,  or  to  enforce  demands  that  had  been  made  by 
the  men  but  not  granted  by  the  companies  at  first.  The  strike 
in  the  spring  of  1923  was  not  so  much  in  the  interest  of  the 
strikers  themselves,  as  it  was  a  show  of  solidarity  for  the  Class 
War  Prisoners. 

In  each  district,  sometimes  in  each  camp,  there  were 
local  demands  for  improvement  of  certain  conditions,  but  all 
were  headed  with  the  one  demand,  "'Release,  the  Class  War 
Prisoners.**  When  action  began  to  be  discussed  in  the  fall  of 
1922,  the  companie.s  tried  to  turn  the  movement  aside.  They 
looked  around  to  see  what  improvements  could  be  made.  The 
bosses  did  less  driving.  As  strike  talk  gained  in  volume  some 
companies  raised  wages  50  cents  a  day.  But  in  spite  of  these 
sops  the  men  struck  and  showed  such  solidarity  the  Class  War 
Prisoners  gained  years  in  commutation  of  their  sentences. 
When  the  strikers  went  back  to  work  there  was  no  effort  by 
the  companies  to  victimize  them.  Their  organization  was  too 
Etrong. 

A  sporadic  attempt  at  a  strike  in  the  woods  was  made 
in  Septemiber,  1923,  which  has  be.en  a  source  of  much  mis- 
understanding. There  had  been  some  talk  after  the  May 
strike  of  another  effort  in  the  near  future,.  In  August  a  rep- 
resentative committee  elected  from  the  various  lumbering  dis- 
tricts of  the  Northwest  met  in  Portland  to  canvass  the  situa- 
tion. One  committeeman  was  instructed  to  vote  for  a  strike 
in  Septemiber.  All  others  were  instructed  to  the  general 
effect  that  the  members  who  elected  them  did  not  consider 
a  strike  in  their  districts  advisable  at  that  time,  but  they  would 
support  any  action  the  majority  decided  on. 


33 


Afte;'  the.  situation  had  been  thoroughly  canvassed,  the 
committee  decided,  with  only  one  dissenting  vote,  not  to  issue, 
a  strike  call.  The  decision  was  published  everywhere.,  and 
men  continued  work  with  a  determination  that  when  they 
should  strike  again,  it  would  be  with  more  powe.r  than  ever. 
Then  la  few,  who  wanted  a  strike  at  all  costs,  met  in  one 
Branch,  issued  a  ''"strike  call"  and  published  it  broadcast  in  the 
name  of  the  I.  W.  W.  This  caused  much  confusion  for  a  time., 
but  workers  now  generally  have  a  clear  understanding  of  the 
event. 

The  strikes  of  the  1.  W.  W.  are  the.  spectacular  events 
that  have  miarked  the  progress  of  the  organization.  They 
are  the  mile  posts  that  measure  the  distance,  we  have  come, 
but  they  are  not  the  road  itself.  That  road  is  paved  with  the 
slow,  painstaking  work  of  many  delegates  and  educators, 
proving  to  the.  workers  that  emiancipation  from  wage  slavery 
Is  possible,  and  that  it  will  come  from  the  conscious  act  of  the 
workers  themselves.  The  road  of  organization  leads  to  the 
full  social  value  of  all  production  to  go  to  the  producers. 


34 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  UNION 
IN  AGRICULTURE 

By  TOM  CONNORS 

I.  W.  W.  Speaker,  Organizer  and  Defense  Worker 

Looking  down  from  a  skyscraper  one  can  scarcely 
discern  the  individual  in  the  streets  of  the  city  ibelow.  Only 
currents  or  masses  of  men  weave  in  and  out  among  the  build- 
ings, and  so  it  is  that  the  history  of  a  labor  movement  appears 
to  the  student  who  casually  glances  'backw-ard.  A  continual 
interweaving  of  persons,  events  and  trends  comes  before  the 
mind's  eye,  with  an  occasional  inlay  set  forth  prominently 
because  of  the  real  or  imaginary  significance  attached  to  the 
subject.  One  such  gem  in  the  history  of  the  ilndustrial  Work- 
ers of  the  World  is  the  formation  of  the  Agricultural  Workers 
Organiziation  of  the  I.  W.  W.  in  1915. 

The  signal  importance  attached  to  the  formation  of  the 
Agricultural  Workers  Organization  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
around  its  development  hinges  the  institution  of  the  present 
structure  of  the  I.  W.  W.,  a  series  of  co-ordinating  industrial 
unions.  During  the  first  eleven  years  of  its  existence  the 
I.  W.  W.  ardently  advocated  the  industrial  form  of  union 
structure,  but  only  at  the  end  of  such  period  of  time  w^as  ahle 
actually  to  install  such  system  in  its  own  organization.  The 
story  of  the  development  of  the  A.  W.  lO.  No.  400  also  pre- 
sents a  graphic  picture  of  the  part  playe;d  by  the  migratory 
worker  in  the  upbuilding  of  industrial  unionism  in  the  United 
States.  A  'brief  survey  of  conditions  as  they  existed  in  the 
harvest  area  of  this  country  at  that  time  will  assist  an  under- 
standing of  why  such  development  took  the  particular  trend 
it  did  take. 

The  wheat  belt  in  the  middle  west  .section  of  this  coun- 
try, through  which  the  horde  of  migratory  workers  swarmed 
each  year  at  harvest  time,  consisted  of  a  territory  extending 
from  the  Pan  Handle  of  Texas  through  Oklahoma,  Kansas, 

35; 


Nebraska,  South  and  North  Dakotas,  Montana  and  Washing- 
ton. The  latter  four  of  the  states  mentioned  depended  greatly 
on  the  migratory  worker  for  man  power  to  harvest  the  small 
grain  crops ;  this  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  at  the.  present 
time.  An  idea  of  the  change  occurring  in  this  respect  may 
be  gleaned  from  the  fact  that  in  1912  the  State  of  Kansas 
required  '85  per  cent,  of  the  necessary  labor  for  the  harvest 
period  to  enter  the  State  from  o'utside  its  iborder;  today,  the 
same  State  depends  on  other  States  to  furnish  a  mere  10  per 
cent,  of  the  needed  harvest  labor. 

The  large  number  of  workers  which  were  needed  from 
■beyond  the  respective  state  lines  caused  the  farming  communir 
ties  in  each  grain  growing  state  to  develop  high-powered  pub- 
licity methods  to  attract  the  desired  workers.  Several  times 
the  number  needed  were  advertised  for,  usually  with  the  de- 
sired result  of  flooding  the  various  districts  with  job-seeking 
migratory  workers,  from  two  to  five  men  often  heing  on  the 
spot  for  each  job.  Once  an  oversupply  of  men  was  created, 
every  available  means  of  coercion  was  used  to  force  the  work- 
ers to  accept  a  mere  pittance  as  wages,  while  the  ibusiness 
elements  in  the  towns  spared  no  effort  to  devise  ways  and 
means  to  retain  each  penny  paid  as  harvest  wages  within  the 
confines  of  their  respective  communities.  To  achieve  success 
in  this  respect  was  not  a  difficult  undertaking. 

The  very  finest  types  among  the  somewhat  heterogeneous 
American  working  class  were  to  'be  found  amid  the  horde 
which  rode  the  railroad  trains  into  the  job-promising  land 
of  golden  wheat.  On  top  of  hoxcars,  occasionally  on  the  rods 
but  usually  inside  of  the  boxcars,  could  he  found  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  men  from  every  walk  in  life.  East,  West, 
North  and  South,  it  mattered  not  as  to  direction,  the  most  pic- 
turesque, and  pathetic,  one  might  say,  aggregation  of  hungry 
and  helpless  workers  ever  assembled  in  one  industry  migrated 
about,  seeking  for  an  opportunity  to  exchange  their  labor 
power  for  some  slight  measure  of  the  wherewithal  of  life. 
This  was  the  ideal  labor  situation — ideal  for  the  employing 
farmers — prevailing  in  the  harvest  fields  of  these  United 
States  prior  to  the  formation  of  the  A.  W.  O.  No.  400  of  the 
L  W.  W. 

Adding  to  the  terrible  situation  described  aibove  a  sprink- 
ling of  high-jacks,  tin-horn  gamblers,  bootleggers  and  pros- 


36 


titutes,  g-ives  oiie  a  fairly  accurate  idea  of  what  the  unorgan- 
ized agricultural  worker  faced  as  he  entered  the  wheat  grow- 
ing area  to  seek  a  living.  The  farming  communities  well  knew 
how  to  use  these  degenerates  to  the  interests  of  the  local  em- 
ployers. It  is  notorious  that  oftentimes  the  village  or  town 
marshal  served  as  the  village  bootlegger  much  of  the  harvest 
country  being  in  the  local  option  belt  and  ''dry"  at  the  time. 
It  also  was  a  very  ordinary  and  usual  occurrence  for  the  mar- 
shal, as  well  as  other  town  or  village  officials,  to  work  in 
cahoots  with  the  high-jacks,  tin-horn  gamblers  and  bootleg- 
gers. 

The  general  premise  underlying  these  alignments  with 
the  social  degenerates  was  that  a  slave  without  money,  broke 
and  hungry,  was  alwiays  a  servile  slave.  Under  such  conditions 
the  individualist  thought  only  to  secure  a  job  which  meant  that 
he  would  eat  for  a  few  days;  never,  under  such  circumstances 
would  he  scruple  about  wage  rates.  During  the  years  1913 
and  1914,  however,  some  substantial  benefits  accrued  to  cer- 
tain groups  of  harvest  workers  because  of  organization.  Scat- 
tered memhers  of  various  local  unions  of  the  I.  W.  W.  formed 
temporary  alliances  on  jobs  and  in  harvest  districts  to  curtail 
hours,  and  improve  wages  and  job  conditions. 

Prior  to  1915  many  admirable  victories  were  won  as  the 
result  of  the  activities  of  I.  W.  W.  members  in  the  harvest 
fields,  but,  usually  owing  to  the  lack  of  a  cohesive  and  lasting 
organization,  these  gains  were  of  a  temporary  nature.  A  few 
isolated  instances  are  of  record  where  a  wage  of  three  dollars 
for  a  ten  hour  working  day  was  paid,  although  the  general 
top  wage  to  that  time  had  heen  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents, 
iand  the  working  day  period  from  a  sun-up  to  sun-down  day 
to  a  sun-up  to  a  far-into-the-night  *'day'*.  The  need  for  a 
more  unified  organization  in  the  harvest  fields  was  clearly 
recognized  in  1914. 

Acting  on  a  recommendation  from  Frank  Little,  General 
Executive  Board  member,  the  Ninth  Annual  Convention  of 
the  I.  W.  W.,  which  convened  in  Chicago,  Septemher  21,  1914, 
indorsed  a  resolution  which  instructed  the  general  adminis- 
tration to  call  a  conference  early  in  1915  of  representatives 
from  all  I.  W.  W.  locals  whose  members  actively  participated 
in  the  small  grain  harvest.  In  accordance  with  these  instruc- 
tions a  conference  was  called  for  April  15,  1915,  to  be  held  in 
Kansas  City,  Mo. 

37 


The  confereince  was  called  (to  order  by  a  General  Execu- 
tive Board  member  on  the  date  set.  A  total  of  nine  delegates 
were  se/ated  from  the  following  local  unions  of  the  1.  W.  W. : 
Local  '57,  Des  Moines,  lla.;  Local  66,  Fresno,  Calif.;  Local  92, 
Portland,  Ore.;  Local  61,  Kansas  City,  Mo.;  Local  69,  Salt 
Lake  'City,  Utah;  Local  173,  San  Francisco,  Calif.;  Local  64, 
Minneapolis,  Minn.;  and  Local  26,  Denver,  iColo.  The  actual 
accomplishment  of  this  conference  was  the  formation  of  the 
Agricultural  Workers  Organization. 

A  resolution  adopted  by  the  conference  determined  the 
formation  of  a  permanent  union  as  well  as  deciding  on  the 
name  for  such  union.  Another  action  of  the  ibody  was  to  set 
a  two  dollar  initiation  fee  and  ask  all  local  unions  of  the  L  W. 
W.  located  in  the  harvest  area  to  bring  their  initiation  fee  to 
such  level.  A  general  isecretary-treasure^r  was  elected  for  the 
A.  W.  0.,  and  his  wages  were  set  at  $18  per  week.  A  general 
organization  committee  of  five  members  was  provided  for, 
as  was  an  undetermined  number  of  field  delegates,  the  latter 
to  work  without  pay. 

A  charter  was  issued  'by  the  general  administration  of  the 
L  W.  W.  to  the  Agricultural  Workers  Organization  No.  400 
on  April  21,  1915.  This  charter  gave  the  A.  W.  O.  No.  400 
the  status  of  a  national  industrial  union.  At  the  time  of  issuing 
this  charter  from  the  organization  general  office  the  matter 
of  designating  a  number  for  it  arose.  The  then  'General  Secre- 
tary-Treasurer of  the  I.  W.  W.  commented  that  inasmuch  as 
this  local  was  being  formed  by  the  elite  of  the  working  class 
a  suitable  number  was  400.  During  the  respective  period  the 
term  "400"  was  a  common  expression  in  use  to  designate  a 
group  of  plutocrats  in  *''high  society"  who  numbered  around 
this  figure,  and  who  owned  the  greater  portion  of  the  wealth 
in  this  vast  nation. 

It  also  was  determined  at  this  first  conference  that  union 
operating  programs  must  be  determined  close  to  the  job,  and 
provisions  were  made  for  field  meetings  to  be  held  for  the 
purpose  of  transacting  such  union  business  as  was  pertinent 
to  each  respective  locality.  Arrangements  were  made  to  pro- 
tect members  from  highnjacks  when  moving  from  jo'b  to  job. 
This  was  one  of  the  outstanding  pro'blems  of  the  day  because 
many  of  the  high-jack  gangs  operated  in  conjunction  with 
village  and  town  officials,  as  well  as  railroad  crews,  and  gen- 
SB 


erally  presented  a  real  menace.  The  destructive  effect  of 
booze  and  gambling  among  the  workers  was  clearly  recognized 
by  the  body,  and  a  policy  which  provided  for  the  separation 
of  these  disturbing  influences  from  the  organization's  activi- 
ties was  adopted.  It  is  notorious  that  no  booze  or  gambling 
was  tolerated  among  organized  harvest  workers  during  the 
subsequent  period. 

On  July  25,  1915,  three  months  after  the  formation  of  the 
A.  W.  lO.  No.  400,  a  second  conference  was  held  in  Kansas 
City,  Mo.  This  meeting  was  called  for  the  purpose  of  plan- 
ning an  organized  movement  of  harvest  workers  into  the 
northern  wheat  areas,  the  harvest  then  being  about  completed 
in  the  southern  districts.  Reports  made  to  this  meeting  showed 
that  organization  receipts  for  the  three  month  period,  and 
around  90  per  cent,  of  the  total  was  collected  during  the  last 
ten  days,  were  ?87'8,  while  expenses  for  the  same  period  were 
$789.  At  this  time  the  A.  W.  O.  consisted  of  only  one  branch, 
the  headquarters  branch  at  Kansas  City. 

At  this  conference  a  te.ntative  wage  scale  of  $3  for  the 
South  Dakota  area  was  set,  and  a  $3.50  scale  for  North  Dakota, 
the  hours  to  'be  a  maximum  of  ten  in  both  instances.  Many 
cases  reported  to  the  conference  showed  that  wages  had  been 
raised  from  the  standard  $2.50  to  a  wage  of  $3  for  10  hours 
work  in  Kansas,  while  from  every  section  where  the  union  was 
active  came  reports  of  a  vicious  and  persistent  persecution  of 
union  members.  More  than  100  arrests  of  active  members 
prior  to  the  end  of  July  were  reported,  with  all  but  12  being 
released  within  a  period  of  a  few  days. 

The  July  meeting  in  Kansas  City  decided  to  move  the  A. 
W.  O.  headquarters  to  Minneapolis,  Minn.  The  following  gen- 
eral meeting  was  held  at  the  latter  named  city.  Among  the 
important  actions  taken  at  this  meeting  which  was  held  No- 
vember 15  and  16  was  to  arrange  for  the  opening  of  branches 
in  Kansas  City,  Sioux  City,  la.,  Omxaha,  Neb.,  and  Des  Moines, 
la.  On  December  12,  1915,  a  conference  of  55  members  was 
held  in  Sacramento,  Cal.,  at  which  an  additional  local  was 
formed.  At  the  Minneapolis  eonf eremce  a  plan  of  extending 
organization  activities  into  the  lumber  camps  and  iron  ore 
mines  of  the  north  central  states  was  adopted. 

During  the  winter  of  1915  and  early  in  1916  the  A.  W. 
O.  400,  greatly  assisted  to  achieve  a  substantial  organization 

39 


in  Iboth  the  Meisaba  Range  metal  mining  industry  and  the  lum- 
ber industry  of  Minnesota  and  Wisconsin.  So  closely  aligned 
with  the  organization  activities  in  industries  other  than  agri- 
culture was  the  A.  W.  O.  that  during  the  early  months  of  1916 
two  national  industrial  union  charters  were  issued  'by  the  Gen- 
eral Administration  of  the  il.  W.  W.  wherein  the  headquarters 
of  these  unions  were  to  be  maintained  jointly  with  that  of  the 
A.W.O.  No.  400.  On  February  3, 1916  National  Industrial  Union 
charter  490  was  issued  to  the  iron  ore  miners  in  the  Me^aba 
Range  district.  This  union  also  formed  branches  throughout 
the  respective  territory  while  its  headquarters  was  joined  with 
that  of  the  A.  W.  O.  Likewise,  on  March  6,  1916,  National 
Industrial  Union  charter  No.  573  was  issued  to  the  general 
construction  workers.  This  union  was  constituted  and  aligned 
similarly  to  I.  U.  No.  490. 

Official  reports  made  to  the  fall,  1916,  general  meeting 
of  the  A.  W.  O.  No.  400  showed  that  the  A.  W.  O.  had  initiated 
more  than  8,000  members,  and  that  the  finances  of  the  union 
were  in  excellent  condition.  Substantial  progress  was  made 
during  1916  in  organizing  workers  in  the  cities  of  the  middle 
west,  as  well  as  in  the  lumber,  metal  mining  and  construction, 
industries  of  the  same  area,  the  A.  W.  O.  actively  participating 
in  these  activities.  The  action  of  the  1916  general  convention 
of  the  I.  W.  W.  in  revising  the  structure  of  the  general  organi- 
zation changed  the  A.  W.  O.  No.  400  into  the  A.  W.  1.  U.  No. 
400.  This  structural  revision  by  the  Tenth  (1916)  General 
Convention  of  the  I.  W.  W.  arranged  for  the  structure  of  the 
I.  W.  W.  to  consist  of  industrial  unions  and  a  general  recruiting 
union.  I.  U.  490  became  part  of  M.  M.  I.  U.,  once  No.  800, 
and  severed  its  headquarters  from  that  of  the  A.  W.  I.  U,, 
while  I.  U.  573  became  C.  W.  I.  U.  No.  573,  and  for  a  time 
continued  to  maintain  its  headquarters  jointly  with  the  A.  W. 
I.  U.  No.  400. 

In  May,  1917,  the  Construction  Workers  Industrial  Union 
No.  573  held  a  convention  in  Omaha,  Nebraska,  and  decided 
to  sever  its  headquarters  from  that  of  the  A.  W.  I.  U.  This 
convention  represented  1200  members  and  five  branches. 

The  A.  W.  I.  U.  hall  in  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  was  raided  by 
the  authorities  twice  during  March,  1917,  but  on  May  30  of 
the  same  year  the  spring  convention  of  the  industrial  union 
was  held  in  the  same  hall.    In  attendance  at  this  'convention 


40 


was  a  represemtative  of  the  Non-Partisan  League  of  America 
who  requested  a  wage  scale  adjustment  for  the  1917  harvest 
between  the  A.  W.  I.  U.  No.  400  and  members  of  the  League. 
The  Non-Partisan  League  members  at  the  time  comprised  a 
majority  of  the  .grain  growers  in  the  State  of  North  Dakota, 
and  a  considerable  number  in  South  Dakota,  Montana  and 
Minnesota.  The  representative  of  the  League  promised  to 
make  an  endeavor  to  secure  free  transportation  on  railroad 
passenger  trains  for  union  agriculture  workers  when  moving 
from  job  to  job.  The  convention  elected  a  committee  of  five 
to  discuss  wages,  hours,  etc.,  with  the  League  administrators. 
Some  benefit  resulted  from  the  subsequent  negotiations,  and, 
although  no  general  definite  agreements  were  made,  the  A.  W. 
L  U.  No.  400  achieved  phenomenal  success  along  organiza- 
tional lines  throughout  the  League  territory. 

During  the  first  three  years  of  its  existence  the  agricul- 
tural v/orkers'.  organization  had  effected  a  veritable  revolu- 
tion within  the  harvest  area.  The  12  to  16  hour  working  day 
disappeared,  wages  doubled,  and  harvest  workers  were  being 
housed  either  in  the  farmer's  home  or  given  adequate  blankets 
and  clean  sleeping  quarters  over  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
wheat  harvest  country.  No  organized  body  of  agricultural 
workers  now  feared  the  high-jack,  and  a  union  man  became 
a  sort  of  terror  to  the  bootlegger  and  the  gambler;  no  indul- 
gence in  liquor  or  gambling  was  tolerated  either  around  the 
halls  or  outdoor  meeting  places.  Likewise  railroad  train  crews 
had  changed  from  petty  grafters,  taking  the  razor  or  pocket 
knife  from  a  worker  who  lacked  the  demanded  $1  per  divi- 
sion, to  some  of  the  most  substantial  friends  of  the  A.  W.  L  U. 
The  numher  of  railroad  workers,  especially  train  crews,  lined 
up  in  the  L  W.  W.  during  this  period  is  hard  to  approximate, 
but  surely  runs  to  a  sizable  figure. 

The  membership  of  the  agricultural  workers'  organization 
more  than  doubled  during  the  year  1917.  This  increase  con- 
tinued even  after  the  .great  national  raids  on  L  W.  W.  halls, 
September  5  of  that  year.  In  the  course  of  these  raids  every 
scrap  of  paper,  all  records,  even  tables,  filing  cases  and  desks 
were  removed  from  the  headquarters  of  the  A.  W.  L  U.  No. 
400  in  Minneapolis,  Minn.  The  persistent  "war-time"  perse- 
cution meted  out  to  industrial  unionists  in  this  country  during 
the  following  months  greatly  hampered  the  work  of  organi- 

41 


zation.  However,  this  very  persecution  may  have  heen  partly 
responsible  for  the  success  achieved  in  organizing  the  agri- 
cultural v^orkers  of  this  country  a  few  years  later. 

The  tale  of  the  more  picturesque  phases  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  A.  W.  O.  No.  400  and  the  A.  W.  I.  U.  No.  400 
(now  A.  W.  I.  U.  No.  110)  has  been  related.  The  delegates 
and  members  of  this  Industrial  Union  have  at  all  times  shown 
the  greatest  courage,  in  the  face  of  lall  obstacles  which  employ- 
ers naturally  raised  against  them.  Their  activity  is  at  all 
times  a  ringing  challenge  to  the  boss  class  that  would,  without 
A.  W.  I.  U.  opposition,  at  once  make  conditions  worse  than 
ever  before,. 


42 


THE  WAY  OF  THE  WOBBLY 


The  strikes  of  the  I.  W.  W.  best  show  what  is  meant  by 
solidarity  and  militancy.  Action  is  the  test  of  unionism ;  and 
the  I.  W.  W.  in  action  proves  the  merits  of  a  unionism  (based 
squarely  on  the  class  strug-g^le,  untrammelled  by  any  agree- 
ments or  other  ''respectahilities''.  From  call  to  settlement, 
the  strikes  of  25  years  of  struggle  stand  out  as  colorful,  dra- 
matic exponents  of  industrial  unionism. 


Many  I.  W.  W.  strikes — Lawrence  and  McKees  Rocks  for 
example — were  not  called  by  the  organization.  But  where 
the  I.  W.  W.  calls  a  strike,  it  starts  with  a  flourish.  Sciarcely 
was  the  new  organization  born  before  a  strike  of  its  members 
broke  out  in  the  great  General  Electric  works  in  Schenectady. 
That  it  was  a  new  organization  with  a  new  way  of  striking 
was  indicated  by  the  fact  that  they  stayed  in  the  shop  and 
just  quit  work  one.  December  morning  at  10  o'clock. 

Taking  eintire  command  of  the  struck  jo:b  is  a  Wobbly 
ideal ;  it  found  an  early  realization  in  Skowhegan,  Me.,  when 
the  employees  of  the  Marston  Mills,  in  revolt  against  discrim- 
ination and  unfilled  promises  of  Increases,  all  walked  out, 
taking  the  'boiler  room  crew  with  them,  blowing  off  the  steam 
and  pulling  the  fires  before  they  left. 

In  Gray's  Harbor,  W^ash.,  in  1912,  a  strike  broke  out  for 
higher  wages  in  the  saw  mills.  The  Lytel  Mill  was  surrounded 
by  a  stockade  twelve  feet  high  surmounted  iby  ibarbed  wire 
and  the  guards  at  the  gate  were  doubled.  The  wage  slaves 
inside  were  to  'be  kept  immune.  But  150  I.  W.  W.'s  went  over 
the  top,  cutting  the  wire,  pulling  the  whistle,  mingling  with 
the  saw  mill  workers  as  they  swept  out  the.  front  gate  past  the 
astounded  guards.    ('Woehlke  m  Outlook,  July  6,  1912). 


The  Call  of  Solidarity 


43 


The  auto  industry  has  always  been  a  hard  nut  for  unions 
to  crack.  There  have  been  many  small  walkouts  from  depart- 
ments, but  few  effective  walkouts.  The  I.  W.  W.  managed 
one.  In  the  Studebaker  plants  in  Detroit  in  1913  the  workers 
wanted  weekly  pay  days.  A  constant  agitation  :by  noon-day 
speakers  had  kept  the  I.  W.  W.  before  them  for  some  months. 
June  16  those  employed  at  plant  No.  3  at  Delray  walked  out 
in  the  morning,  held  a  meeting  in  an  adjoining  lot,  formed  in 
line  and  paraded  to  plant  No.  1  arriving  there  at  noon  and 
swelling  their  ranks  in  this  way  by  another  .2000.  The  next 
day  :by  the  same  tactics  they  brought  out  the  men  in  other 
plants. 

In  the  last  large  strike  of  the  I.  W,  W. — the  Colorado  coal 
miners  in  1927-8 — it  required  still  other  tactics  to  make  a 
clean  walkout.  For  the  first  time  in  history  the  miners  in  all 
three  fields  in  the  state  were  ibrought  out  together  by  the  call 
of  solidarity.  The  state  law  required  30  days'  notice  before 
any  strike;  and  the  strike  call  for  October  18  was  given 
plenty  of  publicity.  Particularly  in  the  south  there 
were  closed  mining  camps  difficult  to  penetrate,  every 
inch  of  them  company  property.  This  was  circumvented 
'by  calling  at  each  house  at  supper  time  unobserved,  leaving 
notice  of  a  meeting  that  evening  just  outside  the  company  line. 
The  western  coal  field,  high  in  the  mountains  and  isolated  from 
the  main  lines  of  communication  was  brought  out  by  a  cara- 
van of  100  cars  that  left  Lafayette  in  the  north,  did  its  duty, 
and  then  steamed  into  the  south,  raising  the  spirit  of  their 
fellow  workers  and  hringing  out  the  workers  in  the  big  Ideal 
Mine,  immunized  up  to  that  time  by  the  blood-thirsty  guards 
of  Rockefeller, 

Working  largely  with  the  spread-out  jo'bs  of  the  lumber- 
jack and  the  construction  worker  the  I.  W.  W.  has  often  had 
the  problem  of  inaccessibility  'before  it  in  a  strike  call.  In  the 
Edison  construction  strike  in  California  in  1922,  many  of  the 
men  on  tunnel  work  were  snow-bound  high  up  in  the  mou  i- 
tains.  In  such  camps  the  company  clerks  do  not  hesitate  to 
tamper  with  the  U.  S.  mail  to  keep  out  the  I.  W.  W.  But  iby 
December  1  the  newspapers  carried  the  news  in  headlines, 
and  these  men  improvised  snowshoes  and  skis  for  themselves 
and  made  their  way  through  the  deep  snow  of  the  mountain 
passes  to  join  their  fellow  workers.    The  lumber  strikes  have 


44 


ordinarily  <been  called  by  '"flying*  squadrons"  that  have  reached 
all  camps  with  the  call  of  solidarity.  The  September  1923 
strike  in  the  Northwest  woods  presented  a  difficult  situation 
inasmuch  as  there  was  a  disagreement  as  to  the  advisaibility 
of  calling  it.  The  hurried  strike  call  reached  the  most  inacces- 
sible parts,  delivered  from  a  20th  century  iunion  by  20th  century 
methods^ — ^by  airplane ! 

In  all  cases  the  I.  W.  W.  leaves  the  strike  to  the  members 
on  the  job.  In  the  spring  of  1923  the  G.  E.  B.  recommended  a 
strike  in  all  industries  for  the  release  of  class  war  prisoners 
but  left  the  date  and  the  actual  calling  of  the  strike  to  those 
on  the  jobs.  The  marine  transport  workers,  the  lumberjacks, 
the  construction  workers  all  respoinded  effectively.  In  all  cases 
the  I.  W.  W.  calls  its  strikes  so  that  there  is  no  wavering  and 
uncertainty,  and  the  straight  issue  of  the  class  struggle,  with 
its  clarion  call  of  solidarity  is  blazoned  in  the  front. 

How  !.  W.  W.  Strikes  Are  Run 

I.  W.  W.  strikes  are  run  by  the  strikers.  This  is  forcibly 
illustrated  by  the  following  incident  in  the  great  Paterson  silk 
strike  of  1913:  Big  Bill  Haywood  wias  seated  in  the  Turn  Hall 
headquarters  of  the  Paterson  strikers  when  he  was  approached 
by  the  leading  rabbi  of  the  city.  A  staccato  dialogue  took 
place  as  follows: 

"Oh,  Mr.  Haywood,  I  am  so  glad  to  meet  you.   I've  been 
wanting  to  meet  the  leader  of  the  strike  for  some  time.'' 
^"'You've  made  a  mistake,"  replied  Bill,  'Tm  not  the  leader." . 

"What!  You're  not?  Well,  who  is  he?" 

"There  ain't  any  He." 

"Perhaps  I  should  have  said  *they',"  persisted  the  prophet 
of  the  Chose,n  people,  "Who  are  they?" 

"This  strike  has  no  leaders,"  answered  Bill, 
m  hasn't!  Well,  who  is  in  charge  of  it?" 
"The  strikers." 

"But  can't  I  meet  some  responsible  parties  elsewhere? 
You  know  I  represent  the  other  churches  of  the  city,  the  Catho- 
lic Fathers  and  the  Methodist  ministers  are  awaiting  my  report. 
I  would  like  to  find  out  all  I  can  a.nd  then  maybe  we  could 
come  to  some  agreement  with  the  mill  owners." 

"The  mill  owners  already  know  what  the  strikers  want," 
said  Bill. 


45 


'They  do!  Why  some  of  the  leadin:g  citizens  don't  know  . 
yet!''  i 

'"That's  fuinny,"  smiled  Bill,  "I  just  got  off  a  train  from 
Akron  a  couple  of  hours  ago  and  I  know." 

''Will  you  please  tell  me?" 

"It's  very  simple,"  answered  Bill,  "'They  want  an  eight 
hour  day,  aibolition  of  the  three  and  four  loom  system  in  broad 
silks,  abolition  of  the  two  loom  system  in  ribbons,  and  the  dyers 
want  a  minimum  wage  of  $12  a  week." 

"Well,  well!"  mused  the  other  stroking  his  rabibinical 
beard,  "I  must  say  it's  strange  we  had  not  heard  all  this!" 

"There'is  an  awful  lot  of  things  you  never  heard  of,  par- 
son," said  Bill. 

""Do  they  have  a  strike  committee,  and  where  do  they 
meet?"  continued  the  rabbi. 

''Right  in  this  hall,  every  morning  at  eight  o'clock." 

"Who  are  they?" 

"I  don't  know ;  and  if  I  did  I  wouldn't  tell,"  laughed  Bill. 

"How  many  are  there?" 

""One  hundred  and  twenty-seven." 

'•One  huindred  and  twenty-seven!  MY  GOD!  What  can 
we  do  with  a  strike  committee  of  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  that  meets  in  a  public  hall  before  all  the  rest  of  the 
strikers?"  j 

'"I  don't  reckon  that  you  can  do  much  except  the  heavy 
looking  on,  parson,"  said  Bill.  "There  ain't  much  left  in  the 
world  for  fellows  like  you  to  do  except  that,  and  ibesides  this 
is  an  I.  W.  W.  strike.  In  an  I.  W.  W.  strike  there  isn't  room 
for  anybody  except  the  working  class  and  the  bosses;  every- 
body else  is  excess  baggage."  (Solidarity,  April  19,  1913.)  \ 

Picketing  is  the  great  essential  in  any  strike.  In  Lawrence, 
1912,  when  the  pickets  were  stopped  from  standing,  the  mov- 
ing picket  line  was  adopted — an  endless  chain  of  rebel  work- 
ers, marching  in  a  circle  around  the  mills,  whose  thousand- 
voiced  "boos"  sent  chills  down  the  spine  of  any  potential  scab. 
In  their  continuous  struggle  for  better  joib  conditions,  the  Agri- 
cultural Workers  have  had  to  maintain  a  picket  line  from 
Kansas  to  Northern  Alberta.  In  the  great  construction  strikes, 
as  in  the  Great  Northern  and  the  Canadian  Northern  in  B.  C. 
in  1912,  or  the  Great  Northern  in  Washington  in  1922,  it  has 
been  necessary  to  picket  employment  offices  from  Los  Angeles 


46 


to  Winnipe.g",  and  from  Seattle  to  Chicago.  In  such  strikes, 
i  scabs  are  .given  free  shipments.  The  I.  W.  W.  has  often 
I  adopted  the  effective  tactic  of  shipping  out  its  members  in 
,  these  consignments  of  scabs,  often  making  up  most  of  the 

shipment,  quitting  the  train  en  route,  leaving  the  railv^ay  in 
l|  possession  of  a  motley  array  of  cheap  suitcases  packed  with 

gunny  sacks  and  bricks.  In  the  B.  €.  construction  strike  of 
i  1913  it  was  sometimes  necessary,  since  shipments  of  scaibs 

under  guard  reached  the  camps,  to  send  in  members  to  scab 

on  the  jo'b  to  bring  out  the  camp  with  them.    The  1.  W.  W. 

always  pickets,  if  not  in  one  way,  then  it  finds  another. 

The  time  element  in  a  strike  is  a  most  imiportant  factor. 
That  is  one  reason  why  the  I.  W.  W.  leaves  the  strike  in  the 
hands  of  the  strikers.  Many  of  the  I.  W.  W.  strikes  have  been 
small,  short  strikes,  won  hy  calling  them  at  the  critical  moment. 
In  Los  Angeles  in  1912,  a  dramatic  pageant  required  150 
extras  to  dress  as  Roman  soldiers  to  carry  the  queen  on  the 
stage  in  a  chair  and  carry  her  off.  The  usual  rate  was  $1j50 
but  this  time  the  extras  were  offered  only  75  cents.  There 
was  too  much  unemiployment  to  pull  the  regular  kind  of  strike, 
so  a  group  of  I.  W.  W.'s  hired  out  at  the  half  scale.  Four  of 
them  took  hold  of  the  queen's  divan  and  the  rest  headed  the 
procession  behind  he,r.  When  the  cue  was  given  for  them  to 
march  oin  the  stage,  they  stalled  at  the  stage  entrance.  When 
the  cue  *'A11  hail  the  Queen!'*  was  given  for  the  third  time, 
the  manager  came  up  and  asked  what  the  matter  was.  He 
was  told  that  they  wanted  $3.00.  When  the  eue  was  given 
again  the  price  went  up  to  $4.00 ;  and  when  they  went  on  the 
stage  it  was  only  after  they  had  each  'been  handed  five  dollar 
'bills.  The  next  day  the  management  hired  another  crew  and 
picked  their  own  men  to  handle  the  queen.  But  the  I.  W.  W.'s 
were  there;  and,  dressed  as  Roman  soldiers,  gracefully  and 
majestically  they  circled  the  stage  so  as  to  have  charge  of  the 
queen  as  she  made  her  exit.  They  were  all  given  $5.00  before 
they  left  the  stage ;  but  the  entire  body  of  extras  was  marched 
in  full  uniform  into  the  patrol  wagons.  The  next  day  the 
manager  had  to  plead  with  the  judge  please  to  let  them  out 
ais  he  needed  their  regalia  for  the  matinee.  So  out  they  came, 
marching  though  the  city  streets  in  splendid  array,  singing 
the  songs  of  the  I.  W.  W.  A  less  ornate  strike  based  on  the, 
same  tactics  of  the  critical  moment,  was  that  of  the  snow 


47 


snovellers  on  the  railway  out  of  Janesville,  Wis.,  in  January 
1910.  The  train  was  held  up  by  the  heavy  snows;  the  men 
demanded  ''mittens,  whiskey  and  a  dollar  an  hour."  They 
won  out  on  the  spot. 

Closely  connected  with  this  tactic  of  the  critical  moment, 
is  the.  intermittent  strike.  For  instance  in  the  construction 
strike  on  all  Guthrie  and  Grant  Smith  camps  in  1922,  the  strike 
was  forced  on  April  28th  'before  proper  organization  was  ef- 
fected; but  it  was  transferred  to  the  job  until  M^ay  28th  when 
the  organization  was  able  to  handle  it  in  good  shape.  The 
1917  lumber  strike  is  a  v/ell-known  instance  of  the  successful 
use  of  the  intermittent  strike.  Here  the  strike  on  the  job  was 
also  used,  the  men  quitting  at  the  end  of  eight  hours,  thus 
winming  the  eight  hour  day.  An  early  instance  of  the  strike 
on  the  job  is  that  of  the  Chicago  clothinig  workers  in  1910. 
This  strike  of  580  men  and  girls  against  Lamm  and  Co.  was 
started  because  of  the  discharge  of  one  man.  The  company 
was  forced  to  accede  to  all  of  their  demands  except  the  rein- 
statemerit  of  the  man.  The  workers  decided  to  go  back  on  the 
terms  offered;  and  there  by  passive  resistance  methods  in  a 
couple  of  hours  they  won  a  shop  committee,  not  asked  for  and 
tlie  reinstatement  of  this  man. 

The  I.  W.  W.  favors  short  strikes  and  these  require  few 
committees.  But  when  a  long  strike  'Cannot  be  avoided  as  irj 
Little  Falls,  Oct.  10,  1912  to  Jan.  3,  1913,  adequate  provision 
must  be  made  for  relief,  etc.  Here  a  soup  kitchen  served 
wholesome  meals  at  a  cost  of  seven  cents  each;  another  com- 
mittee supplied  rations  for  families.  A  publicity  committee 
provided  all  papers  with  news  and  attended  to  the  legal  work, 
securing  affidavits,  etc.  A  special  clothes  committee  ascer- 
tained the  needs  of  each  striker  in  that  respect,  and  by  sys- 
tematic repairs  and  alteration  made  the  fullest  use  of  the 
clothing  sent,  even  maintaining  their  own  shoe  repair  shop. 
A  social  committee  kept  up  the  spirit  of  solidarity  though  the 
cold  winter  months  combining  education  with  amusements. 
There  were  picket  and  vigilance  committees,  and  to  co-ordinate 
all,  the  main  strike  committee. 

The  employers  ordinarily  try  to  inject  violence  into  all 
strikes;  the  I.  W.  W.  has  had  to  adopt  a  variety  of  tactics  to 
foil  this  game.    Most  rejiable  of  all  is  a  good  vigilance  com- 


48 


imittee.  In  Portland  in  1923,  in  the  longshore  strike,  it  was 
[necessary  to  close  the  blind  pigs  in  order  to  keep  order;  the 
I.  W.  W.  closed  them.  In  the  Goldfield  strike  of  1907  against 
payment  in  worthless  and  unguaranteed  scrip,  troops  were 
brought  in.  The  I.  W.  W.  issued  a  straight  appeal  to  "*every 
$15  a  month  soldier-slave"  to  stand  Dy  his  ciass.  Violence 
was  avoided  and  a  federal  investigation  ordered  the  removal 
I  of  the  troops,  in  MciKees  Rocks  in  1909,  the  I.  W.  W.  had 
the  steel  trust  cossacks  to  contend  with — -ruthless  thugs  who 
\  had  crushed  every  previous  revolt  with  'bloody  intimidiation. 
The  strike  was  spontaneous.  Secretary  Morrison  of  the  A.  F. 
of  L.  had  visited  the  scene  and  decided  that  "These  strikers 
are  a  lot  of  ignorant,  unorganized  foreigners,  and  the  A.  F. 
of  L.  can  do  nothing  for  them."  But  among  them  were 
refugees  of  the  Russian  revolt  of  1905  who  got  in  touch  with 
the  I.  W.  W.  for  assistance.  An  ''Unknown  Committee"  was 
formed  of  these  revolutionists;  and  to  the,  Coissacks,  after  a 
striker  had  been  killed  by  them,  a  notice  was  sent:  'Tor  every 
striker's  life  that  you  take,  a  trooper's  life  will  be  taken."  A 
riot  was  started  at  O'Donovan  Bridge  by  Deputy  Sheriff  Ex- 
ler;  four  strikers  were  killed  and  the  unknown  committee  took 
the  lives  of  three  Cossacks  and  called  it  quits,  for  it  was  already 
clear  that  this  amount  of  discipline  had  checked  the  violence 
of  the  'blustering  thugs. 

Lawrence  furnishes  a  good  illustration  of  the  nature  of 
strike  violence.  Dynamite  was  planted  by  a  member  of  the 
School  Board  named  Breen  to  incriminate  the  strikers.  He 
was  caught,  convicted  and  fined  $500! 

How  Strikes  End 

A  strike  is  a  display  of  solidarity.  If  morale  is  to  be 
maintained  the  workers  must  quit  together  and  go  back  to- 
gether. At  this  the  I.  W.  W.  has  always  aimed.  It  is  up  to  the 
strikers  to  settle  the  strike.  In  Lawrence  a  large  committee 
familiar  from  their  work  with  every  technical  point  that 
might  be  raised  in  such  a  settlement,  confronted  and  surprised 
the  company  attorneys.  The  decision  that  raised  the  wages  of 
textile  workers  by  over  $5,000,000  per  year  was  ratified  by  a 
mass  meeting  of  all  strikers  on  Lawrence  common. 

Organization  on  the  job  is  worth  a  multitude  of  promises 
and  agreements.    The  Philadelphia  longshoremen  in  their 


49 


strike  in  1920  ended  it  with  as  big  a  surprise  as  when  it  be- 
f-can,  while  the  Shipping  Board  and  the  ste.vedores  were  wrang- 
ling over  terms,  thus  transferring  all  the  solidarity  of  the  : 
strike  to  the  job  in  the  form  of  complete  job  control.   The  : 
great  Iron  Range  strike  on  the  Mesaba  in  1916  used  the  same  : 
tactics  and  got  results  that  could  not  have  heen  obtained  'by  ' 
prolonging  the  strike.    The  miners  of  Butte,  fearing  the  defec- 
tion of  co-operating  A.  F.  of  L.  unions  in  their  strike  of  1919 
that  tied  up  the  entire,  city,  went  back  on  the  same  score. 

To  write  the  history  of  I.  W.  W.  strikes  would  take  a 
book.  The  I.  W.  W.  is  out  to  win  and  in  its  striking  w^ays  it 
adopts  winning  tactics. 


50 


THE  COLORADO  CONQUEST 

By  ED  DELANEY 

Long  Prominent  In  I.  W.  W.  Defense  Work 

The  working  class  in  the  United  States  are  about  as  adept 
at  grasping  the  significance  of  new  theorie.s  or  new  methods 
as  are  the  English  people  at  grasping  the  sense  of  the  average 
American  joke.  However,  the  same  pe.culiarity  is  true  of  both 
in  the  same  tsense,  in  that  when  they  finally  conceive  the  full 
meaning  -of  the  thing  under  consideration  and  find  that  it  can 
be  as  dt  is  purporte;d,  then  they  go  ahead  with  it,  whether  it 
be  a  new  theory  for  the  American  or  a  new  joke  for  the  Eng- 
lishman.  So  it  was  with  the  miners  in  the  state  of  Colorado. 

For  many  years  the  miners  had  been  trampled  under- 
foot by  the  coal  companies.  Attempts  had  been  made,  it  is 
true,  to  break  the  company  rule  and  monarchy  'but  each 
attempt  was  like  the.  first  and  all  were  unsuccessful.  Laws 
were  created  for  their  benefit,  only  to  be  ignored.  Time  passed 
and  with  its  passing  conditions  grew  worse  and  the  miner, 
stoic  that  he  is,  bore  on  uncomplaining.  Only  a  few  could  find 
the.  time  to  look  for  a  new  method  of  attack,  only  a  few  could 
grasp  the  ;ne'w  idea  when  it  was  first  presented  in  the  form 
of  the  I.  W.  W.  by  a  'unioin  organizer. 

Considering  this,  then  it  ds  not  strange  that  when  in  Sep- 
tember of  1927,  w,hen  an  announcement  was  made,  by  the 
I.  W.  W.  that  a  strike  would  be  called  m  October  18,  that  both 
the  coal  miners  and  the  mine  operators  chuckled  up  their 
sleeves.  The  mine,rs  chuckled  because  they  had  been  through 
many  strikes  in  recent  years  and  had  inothing  to  show  for  their 
trouble  except  the  losses  they  had  suffered.  Many  were  of 
the  opinion,  too,  that  a  strike,  which  would  close  all  the  coal 
mines  in  the  state  was  utterly  dmpossible. 

And  the  operators  snickered  among  themselves,  some 
oven  going  so  far  as  to  laugh  aloud  at  the  statement.  They 
weje  positive  that  their  actions  in  previous  strikes  had  been 
of  such  a  character  as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  any  future 


51 


strikes  of  any  magnitude.  Indeed,  it  was  isuch  as  to  frighten  j 
stroinger  men  than  the  miners  were  reputed  to  be.  Did  they 
not  own  the.  State,  were  not  the  militia,  state  police  and  all  I 
armed  forces,  as  well  as  the  courts  ready  to  iback  their  every 
decision  with  hot  lead  and  court  decisions?  And  if  they  were  j 
not  sufficient  did  they  not  have  their  own  hordes  of  gunmen  ; 
to  use.  as  reinforcements?  Solidarity  there  would  be  all  right  j 
but  it  would  be  on  the  side  of  the  operators  and  not  with  the  j 
miners,  the  lowly  diggers  of  coal. 

Despite  such  an  atmosphere,  the  I.  W.  W.  served  notice  i 
on  the  State  Industrial  Commission  that  a  general  strike  of  \ 
the  coal  mining  industry  would  be  called  and  they  served  this  : 
notice  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  Colorado  law. 

Time  passed  and  with  the  passing  of  each  day  more  re- 
cruits to  the.  idea  of  striking  were  gathered.  Some  miners 
acceded  to  the  idea  through  mere  curiosity;  curious  whether 
the  I.  W,  W.  and  its  methods  were  any  different  than  the  old 
line  craft  organizations  or  not;  and  with  others  the  idea  of 
tying  up  the  ejntire  industry  went  home  and  they  began  to 
appreciate  their  own  strength.  So  great  was  this  spreading 
feeling  of  solidarity  that  the  operators  thought  better  of  their 
snickers  and  began  casting  their  suave  smiles  of  good  fellow- 
ship around.  The,n  came  their  announcemeint,  virtually  on  the 
eve  of  the  strike  that  they  would  grant  an  increase  in  wages^ — 
but,  that  they  were  doing  it  at  the  behest  of  the  employees 
who  had  petitioned  for  such  an  incre.ase  in  the  prescribed  man- 
ner as  provided  for  in  the  Rockefeller  Plan.  The  employers 
were  beginning  to  realize  that  a  determined  effort  was  afoot 
and  that  the,  two  day  strike  which  had  been  carried  on  in  the 
Y/alsenberg  district  by  the  I.  W.  W.  in  August,  as  a  protest 
against  the  death  sentence  of  Sacco  and  Vanzetti,  had  not  been 
a  mere  empty  gesture. 

Came  the  dawn  of  October  18  and  thousands  of  miners 
picked  their  way  through  the  murky  streets  of  the  Colorado 
mining  towns;  picked  their  way,  not  to  the.  shafts  or  slopes 
of  coal  mines  but  to  the  union  halls  and  meeting  places.  Meet- 
ings were  called  and  picket  lines  formxed.  I.  W.  W.  organizers 
explained  the  ne'cessity  of  discipline,  of  how  violence  in  every 
form  should  be  avoided ;  explained  that  committees  to  govern 
the  strike  should  be  elected  and  all  of  the  other  details  that  go 
to  m.ake  up  a  successful  strike.  Songs  were  sung  and  the.  pickets 


52 


were  on  their  way.  Singing  the  stirring  words  of  the  sonig, 
'"Solidarity"  and  indelibly  imprinted  in  their  memories  was 
the  phrase,  *'Watch  the  man  who  advocates  violence." 

Throughout  the  day  they  wended  their  way,  not  dn  groups 
of  two  or  three  but  in  great  masses,  hundreds  strong.  All  day 
long  they  sang  their  songs  and  as  they  passed  along  their 
chosen  routes  their  ranks  were  augmented  by  hundreds  more. 

With  the  coming  of  night  they  congregated  about  their 
m.eeting  places  and  huge  mass  meetings  were  held.  Speakers 
were  present  and  they  spoke  in  nearly  every  language  preva- 
lent in  each  respective  district.  Deep  voiced  Slavs,  speaking 
in  terms  of  questions — and  after  each  question  the  audience 
would  respond  in  unison  and  the  deep  throated  reply  would 
sound  not  unlike  the  intonations  of  a  Catholic  congregation 
responding  to  the  chanting  of  the  priest  during  Vespers.  Mex- 
icans using  the  picturesque  speech  of  their  homeland  became 
ouite  flowery  in  their  eloquence.  Italians,  sometimes  highly 
emotional,  again  very  solemn,  but  ^always  gesturing  with  their 
hands  drew  encore  after  encore.  Then  too,  there  were  Kus- 
sian,  French  and  English  speakers,  'but  they  all  told  the  same 
story.  The  story  of  the  miners'  serfdom.  The  story  of  the 
I.  W.  W.  andjts  method  of  securing  victories.  Strike!  Soli- 
darity would  win! 

Strike  committees  were  elected  early  in  the  struggle  and 
they  agreed  to  the  original  demands  which  had  'been  drawn 
up  at  the  conference  held  in  Aguilar  earlier  in  the  year.  These 
demands,  twenty -two  in  number,  were  for  a  return  of  the 
Jacksonville  wage  scale,  for  the  enforcement  of  state  mining 
laws,  the  right  to  have  a  eheckweighman,  pit  committee,  no 
union  interference,  etc.  All  of  them  important  in  the  life  of 
the  average  miner;  all  of  them  fair  in  every  re.spect  and  of 
such  a  nature  as  to  have  been  voluntarily  acceded  to  by  any 
employer  if  he  were  even  half  human. 

Thus  began  a  strike  that  was  to  stir  the  entire  world.  A 
strike  such  as  had  never  before  (been  witnessed  in  the  coal 
industry  of  this  country,  and  it  was  fitting  that  an  organization 
such  as  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World  should  be  its 
sponsor.  This  was  the  greatest  strike  that  had  ever  occurred 
in  the  industry.  Never  'before  had  such  demands  ibeen  made 
and  never  had  there  been  such  a  splendid  display  of  strategy 
as  was  used  by  these  determined  workers.   Indeed,  it  was  only 


53 


through  such  a  union  as  the  I.  W.  W.  that  the  strike  could 
have  even  bee.n  a  remote  possibility,  for  it  was  broad  enough  in 
character,  great  enough  in  v^dsdom  and  flexibility  to  allow 
for  a  change  of  program  or  tactics  to  meet  every  move  of  the 
boss  and  do  it  instantaneously. 

The  succeeding  days  found  meetings  being  held  and  pic- 
kets still  holding  their  ground.  Their  ranks  were  filled.  Prac- 
tically every  mine  dn  the  state  was  idle.  Great  droves  of 
miners  were  travelling  from  district  to  district  in  automobile 
caravans  and  wherever  they  went  mines  would  close  down. 
Freemont  County  wias  the  last  to  succumb  and  when  it  finally 
fell  into  line  a  total  of  325  mdnes  out  of  a  grand  total  of  343 
in  the  entire  state  were  closed  down  tight.  This  happened  not 
in  the  summer  time,  but  in  the  )busy  season ;  at  that  time  of  the 
year  when  the  coal  mine  operators  had  a  ready  market  for 
their  coal.  The  operators  were  amazed,  yea,  dumfounded. 
Despite  their  laws,  despite  their  jurists,  their  gunmen,  state 
and  private,  their  mines  were  idle  and  the  country  was  crying 
for  coal. 

It  must  be  understood,  however,  that  the  boss  did  not  stand 
idly  by  and  allow  the  I.  W.  W.  to  go  on  unmolested  in  its 
endeavors.  Rather,  the  '.boss  made  the  first  move  to  thwart 
the  strike  with  violence  by  raiding  the  I.  W.  W.  hall  in  Wai- 
senburg  on  the  16th  of  October  in  the  dead  of  night.  Cars 
loaded  with  gunmen  had  raced  by  in  the  street  shooting  the 
place  full  of  holes  and  endeavoring  to  bluff  the  miners  out. 
Next  day  the  hall  opened  as  usual  and  it  remained  open,  'bul- 
lets or  no  ibullets.  Governor  Adams  had  reinstated  the  state 
police  on  the  payroll  of  Colorado.  Private  gunme.n 
were  imported,  county  and  city  police  officials  were  'urged 
to  violence  and  a  miniature  hell  reigned  in  every  coal 
camp.  Men  and  women  were  jailed.  Women  and  children  as 
well  as  m.en  v/ere  beaten  up.  Hundreds  of  pounds  of  roofing 
nails  were  strewn  on  the  highways  to  stop  the  picket  cars  !by 
puncturing  the  tires,  but  the  strike  went  on.  Each  person 
jailed  hrought  more  recruits  to  the  strikers'  camp,  each  per- 
son beaten  brought  more  relief  to  their  exhausted  relief  funds. 

No  longer  were  the  employers  laughing.  No  longer  were 
the  workers  chuckling — ^they  laughed  aloud.    The  world  stood 


54 


aghast.  Soinethmg  had  gone  wrong  in  (Colorado.  The  miners 
were  unafraid.  Not  only  had  southern  Colorado  gone  on 
strike — ^the  entire  State  was  tied  up. 

A  month  passed.  A  month  of  excitement  of  the  most 
stirring  kind.  The  miners  were  getting  along  famously.  They 
realized  their  power  and  had  settled  down  for  a  long  strike. 
But  the  operators  had  another  trick  up  their  sleeves.  They 
remembered  Ludlow  and  decided  on  a  murder  sce.ne.  Serene, 
Colorado  was  to  'be  the  place,  at  the  workings  of  the  Rocky 
Mountain  Fuel  Company's  Columhine  mine.  On  the  morning 
of  November  21  as  the  picket  line  wended  its  way  toward  the 
mine,  as  they  had  heen  in  the  habit  of  doing  each  morning, 
they  fo'und  the  road  closed.  They  reached  the  gate  and  were 
suddenly  attacked  by  a  group  of  state  police  and  company 
thugs.  Shots  were  fired  indiscriminately  into  the  line  of  over 
six  hundred  men,  women  and  children,  all  of  whom  were  with- 
out arms  of  any  description.  Six  people  were  killed  as  a  re- 
sult of  the  shooting  and  thirty-four  others  were  hadly  wound- 
ed, including  some  women.  Murder  in  the  coldest  sense  of  the 
word,  yet  the' man  who  directed  it  was  awarded  a  medal.  This 
man  was  Louis  Scherf,  head  of  the  state  police. 

Governor  Adams  declared  martial  law  in  northern  Colo- 
rado and,  the  Colum'bine  hecame  the  habitat  for  the  state 
militia.  Men  were  arrested  and  illegally  detained — ^blood  was 
on  Colorado's  hands  and  they  would  (blot  it  with  innocent 
humans'  li'berty.  Men  were  in  morgues,  others  in  hospitals, 
some  in  jail,  the  militia  was  present  briistling  with  rifles  and 
bayonets  affixed,  yet  the  strike  went  on.  Murdering  had  not 
broken  its  spirit. 

The  employers  were  'beginning  to  realize  that  they  were 
not  dealing  with  an  old  line  organization  like  the  U.  M.  W.  of 
A.  The  L  W.  W.  did  not  want  a  contract  with  one  mine  in 
each  district;  they  wanted  all  the  miners  to  get  the  same  award 
anTwould  not  consider  anything  that  was  not  effective  for 
every  miner  in  the  state,  regardless  of  the  district.  The  L  W. 
W.  fought  on  with  tactics  that  were  unbeatable.  Compare 
them  with  those  used  in  the  strikes  which  were  then  going  on 
in  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio! 

In  Colorado  the  miners  had  elected  their  own  committee. 


55 


one  for  each  locality,  for  each  district  and  an  all-state  execu- 
tive committee.  Every  committeeman  was  an  actual  coal  miner 
who  had  been  elected  by  the  miners  in  the  particular  locality 
from  which  he  hailed.  Who  else  would  know  more  about  con- 
ditions in  the  mines  than  these  men?  There  were  no  leaders 
telling-  them  what  to  do  or  when  they  could  do  it.  True,  the 
I.  W.  W.  had  organizers  from  other  fields  on  the  job,  but  they^ 
were  men  trained  in  the  sort  of  work  necessary  there  and  ev- 
eryone of  them  took  orders  from  the  committees  of  miners. 
The  miners  handled  all  the  funds,  all  of  the  relief  and  they 
saw  to  it  that  each  district  received  its  just  share.  If  one  dis- 
trict went  hungry  then  all  districts  went  hungry.  If  one  ate, 
all  ate.  And  not  a  man  received  a  penny's  wage  throughout 
the  entire  period  of  the  conflict. 

Women  were  called  into  consultation.  The  miners'  wives 
were  important  cogs  in  the  strike  machinery  and  in  Colorado 
they  showed  their  mettle.  They  were  in  every  meeting,  on  the 
picket  lines  and  were  equally  as  active  a,s  the  men.  This  was 
an  innovation,  something  which  had  never  occurred  'before, 
even  as  everything  else  as  conducted  along  I.  W.  W.  lines  was 
new,  and  as  a  result  people  came,  to  ask  what  sort  of  lan  or- 
ganization this  I.  W.  W.  was.  Everybody  was  fighting  for 
them — meaning  everyone  connected  with  the  physical  end  of 
the  industry,  and  it  seemed  like  an  unexplainable  matter. 

And  so  the  strike  went  on,  day  after  day,  week  after 
week,  the  strikers  and  their  families  always  showing  the  same 
indomitable  spirit.  They  met  bullets  with  smiles,  clubs  with 
laughter  and  jails  with  songs.  Their  meetings  were  (broken  up, 
their  halls  and  picket  lines  raided,  their  homes  desecrated  Ibut 
they  carried  on.  Hunger,  privation,  sickness,  child-birth,  per- 
secution in  every  form  that  thugs,  state  police,  militiamen, 
county  and  city  officers  could  possibly  conceive,  quarantines 
and  murder  were  their  lot,  but  they  continued  to  strike,  con- 
tinued to  sing  and  smile. 

Then  came  the  move  on  the  part  of  the  organization  to 
have  a  public  hearing  of  the  miners'  cause.  The  State  Indus- 
trial Commission  were  petitioned  to  hear  the  story.  They 
agreed  and  thereby  declared  the  strike  a  legal  one,  despite 
the  fact  that  they  had  originally  declared  it  to  be  illegal  be- 


56 


^•au«e  they  stated  that  proper  notification  had  not  been 
given  The  hearing  ^began  in  Denver  on  Decem^ber  19  and 
sessions  were  held  in  five  other  towns  of  the  state.  It  proved 
a  revelation  to  the  citizens  of  the  State  as  well  .as  to  all  othejs 
that  were  in  a  position  to  read  of  its  details. 

Miners  from  every  mine  of  importance  came  (before  the 
Board  and  told  their  story  in  their  own  way— in  their  own 
language.  Day  after  day  was  consumed  in  hearing  like  stories 
told  Stories  of  how  they  had  been  forced  to  work  in  wet 
places  to  move  rock,  to  put  up  their  own  timbers,  lay  their  own 
track  and  carry  materials  from  old  abandoned  working  places 
at  the  risk  of  their  life-^all  without  pay.  They  told  of  ibemg 
ro'bbed  of  their  tonnage  by  company  weigh  bosses,  of  how 
in  one  instance  there  had  not  even  been  a  scale  on  the  tipple 
for  a  period  of  seven  months.  Grievance  after  grievance  was 
mentioned  and  in  not  a  single  instance  could  the  employers 
refute  the  testimony  given.  An  indictment  was  written,  a 
damning  indictment  that  shall  go  down  thro'Ugh  the  pages  of 
working  class  history  as  a  record  in  Colorado's  industrial  serf- 
dom that  could  never  be  refuted. 

After  the  Commission  had  concluded  its  hearing  in  Crested 
Butte  it  went  to  Walsenburg  to  take  similar  testimony  and 
arrived  there,  abo'ut  noon  on  January  12,  1928.  The  miners 
were  overjoyed  at  their  coming;  they  were  pleased  to  thmk 
that  they  were  going  to  have  an  opportunity  to  tell  the.ir  story. 
And  in  their  delight  they  planned  to  parade  to  the  court- 
house and  welcome  the  Board.  In  accordance  with  their  plan 
they  started  a  line  of  march  from  the  I.  ,  W.  hall  toward 
the  courthouse,  but  were  turned  hack  after  a  short  space  had 
been  covered.  Turned  back  to  find  that  they  were  practically 
surrounded  by  gunmen,  who  were  even  then  pouring  lead 
through  the  back  door  of  their  hall  from  a  machine  gun. 

Two  people  were  killed,  a  man  and  a  fifteen  year  old 
boy  The  hail  was  riddled,  and  for  hours  gunmen  paraded 
the  streets  intimidating  everyone  who  resemhled  a  worker. 
This  was  an  effort  to  stop  the  taking  of  testimony;  it  was 
thought  that  the  miners  would  be  too  frightened  to  tell  ot 
conditions  in  the  mines  in  and  around  Walsenburg  if  they 
were  shot  down  in  cold  blood,  but  this  thought  proved  errone- 
ous also,  for  the  hearing  continued  and  the  miners  became 
more  bold  than  ever  before. 


This  hearing-  ibrought  about  a  split  in  the  ranks  of  the 
mine  operators.  An  immediate  concession  was  made  by  a 
number  of  operators,  especially  those  operating  on  an  inde- 
pendent basis,  to  the  effect  that  they  would  grant  practically 
every  demand  the  -strikers  had  made  insofar  as  it  was  in  their 
power.  The  offer  was  refused  for  the  strike  was  state-wide 
and  it  was  always  maintaind  that  no  mine  would  operate  unless 
all  worked. 

After  four  months  of  striking  the  miners  voted  by  a 
majority  of  ninety  per  cent,  to  return  to  work.  This  was  on 
Fcibruary  19,  1928  and  their  demands  had  been  practically 
all  won. 

An  increase  in  wages  of  one  dollar  per  day,  checkweigh- 
men  on  the  tipples,  pit  committee  in  the  mines,  working  condi- 
tions 100  per  cent,  improved  and  all  state  mining  laws  enforced* 
were  the  exact  concessions  earned  and  received.  The  miners 
had  cleared  themselves  in  the  eyes  of  a  sleepy  public  and,  best 
of  all,  had  discovered  their  own  strength  if  properly  applied. 

Some  may  say  that  the  strike  was  too  long,  others  that  it 
was  too  short,  but  none  can  deny  that  it  was  pulled  at  the 
right  time  and  that  the  tactics  pursued  were  proper  as  well 
as  new  to  the  industry.  It  is  not  our  purpose  here  to  argue 
over  the  length  or  brevity  of  the  strike  but  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  the  strike  was  about  as  accur\ately  timed  as  any  strike 
ever  conducted. 

The  strike  proved  the  soundness  of  the  I.  W.  W.  It  proved 
the  potential  power  of  the  miners.  And  it  brought  about  con- 
ditions which  could  never  have  'been  achieved  in  any  other 
way.  Considering  the  numiber  of  people  involved  in  it,  it  was 
the  cheapest  strike  ever  held  in  this  country  from  a  financial 
viewpoint.  Yet,  more  was  accomplished  than  in  any  other 
five  strikes  in  the  State. 


58 


EDUCATION 


By  CLIFFORD  B.  ELLIS 

Editor  of  The  Industrial  Worker 

THE  PURPOSE  OF  EDUCATION 

Education,  in  a  practical  and  applied  sense,  may  be  de- 
fined as  that  training  which  enaibles  one  to  understand  and 
adapt  one's  self  to  material  reality.  When  we  say  "material" 
we  reni'Ove  the  question  beyond  the  field  of  metaphysical  phil- 
osophy. The  primary  concern  of  the  average  human  is  to  make, 
a  living — ^to  survive — ^and  that  is  a  purely  material  problem. 
It  deals  only  with  the  material  factors  of  health,  education 
and  access  to  the  material  means  of  life  unrestricted  by  man- 
made  laws  and  iijhibitions.  If  all  men  and  womien  had  an 
equal  opportunity  to  make  a  living,  education  might 'be  reduced 
to  a  simple  and  uniform  course  of  instruction ;  (but  where  equal 
access  to  the  means  of  life  is  denied,  the  uniformity  of  school 
and  college  courses  leading  to  uniform  ^'degrees"  makes  the 
usual  education  no  education  at  all.  Most  of  our  education 
today  is  mere  mental  gymnastics.  It  is  designed  not  to  fit  one 
to  make  a  living,  'but  adapt  one  to  the  social  order  and  teach 
respect  for  the  class  division  of  society  into  masters  and  wage 
slaves. 

If  education  is  to  prepare  one  to  perform  the  duties  of 
life,  as  Webster  ;says,  it  is  apparent  that  it  should  be  special- 
ized to  suit  the  needs  of  the  individual.  It  is  assumed  by  our 
educators  that  all  members  of  society  have  certain  duties  in 
common,  such  as  duties  to  the  State,  a  common  moral  code 
and  the  amenities  of  social  intercourse,.  If  all  the  members 
of  society  were  of  approximately  equal  economic  condition, 
the  assumption  might  be  accepted  as  a  practical  working  prop- 
osition ;  but  in  a  society  divided  by  class  lines,  it  is  an  absurdi- 
ty. The  most  important  material  fact  of  modern  social  or- 
ganization is  completely  and  deliberately  ignored  in  educa- 
tion; inamely,  that  society  is  divided  into  two  fairly  well-de- 
fined classes  consisting  of  those  who  wiork  for  wages  and  those 


59 


who  exploit  the  wage  workers  for  profit  and  live  by  a  species 
of  gambling  in  the  wealth  produced  by  the  other  class. 

Even  technical  educatioin  is  divided  quite,  unnaturally  and 
unnecessarily  into  two  branches  along  class  lines.  These  are 
the  mechanical  arts  on  the  one  hand  and  the.  so-called  pro- 
fessions on  the  other.  No  one  can  tell  just  where  the  line  of 
division  betwee;n  the  twio  branches  should  be  drawm.  No  one 
knows  just  at  what  point  a  carpenter  becomes  an  architect 
or  a  building  engineer;  or  at  what  poiint  a  reporter  becomes 
a  ^'journalist"  or  when  a  real  estate  huckster  be.comes  a  '''real- 
tor." Obviously,  the  line  of  idivijsio:n  lies  outside  of  the  tech- 
nical factors  involved  and  comcerns  itself  with  something  else. 
Roughly,  it  depends  on  whether  you  are  going  to  use  the  tech- 
nical knowledge  gained  by  study  to  do  useful  and  practical 
things — ^to  produce  wealth— ^or  whether  you  are  going  to  use 
it  in  the  exploitation  of  those  who  do  the  useful  things.  Or 
it  depends  on  whether  you  are  going  to  be  a  wage  worker,  get 
a  "job"  and  draw  wages;  or  whether  yo'U  are.  going  to  exploit 
or  direct  the  exploitation  of  wage  workers;  in  which  latter 
case  you  draw  a  "salary"  or  fees  or  profits  amd  hold  a  *'posi- 
tion,"  These  distinctions  have  arise.n  with  the  Eidvance  of  bour- 
geois society.  In  the  earlier  stages  of  capitalism  and  before, 
no  such  divisions  existed.  Benjamin  Franklin  never  took  a 
formal  scientific  course  leading  to  a  professional  degree; 
Lincoln  did  not  become  /an  ''L.L.B."  by  reading  law  as  he  lay 
on  his  stomach  before  the  fireplace  by  the  light  of  a  pine-knot; 
the  inventors  w^hose  work  revolutionized  modern  society  such 
as  Stephenson,  Watt,  Arkwright,  Eli  Whitney,  Blanchard, 
Elias  Howe,  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  Robert  Fulton  and  others 
were  just  workers;  they  had  no  degrees  amd  were  not  ''pro- 
fessors." The  class  lines  had  not  yet  been  sharply  drawn  when 
these  did  their  work.  They  were  members  of  a  revolutionary 
class  that  had  just  come  into  power  and  they  sprang  from  the 
masses  of  the  commom  people.  The  necessity  of  educating 
them  in  the  mental  attitude  of  the  ruling  class  had  not  yet 
developed  in  the  minds  of  the  rising  bourgeoisie.  | 

These,  idistinctions  of  class  grew  out  of  the  economic  divi- 
sion of  the  people  into  masters  and  wage  slaves  as  capitalism 
developed  from  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  onward. 
The  pioneers  of  capitalism  were  re.volutionists — an  oppressed 
class.    They  were  not  distinguished  or  distinguishable  in  their 


60 


earlier  origms  from  the  masses  of  peasants,  artisans  and  lab- 
orers who  were  victimized,  robbed,  * 'plundered,  profaned  and 
disinherited'*  by  the.  feudal  noibility  against  whom  they  made 
common  revolutionary  warfare. 

Our  early  bo'urgeois  idealists  thought  they  were  estab- 
lishing a  "natural"  society  to  succeed  the  social  organization 
founded  upotn  the  artificialities  of  special  privilege,  birth  and 
aristocratic  rank.  They  asserted  with  perfectly  naive  sinceri- 
ty that  '"all  men  are  created  equal";  that  is,  equal  in  the  op- 
portunity to  engage,  in  trade  or  businesis  and  by  cleverness  and 
artfulness,  to  get  the  best  end  of  a  'business  dicker.  It  wa.s 
the  philosophy  of  glorified  huckstering  and  its  avatar  v/as  a 
P'ush-cart  peddler  exalted  to  the,  n~th  degree  of  success.  It 
was  quite  matural  in  an  age  when  vast  new  continents  were 
open  to  adventureis  for  exploitation  and  whe.n  the  individual 
trader  was  free  to  pit  his  wits  against  every  other  individual 
trader  on  s  fairly  even  'basis,  unhampered  by  the.  gigantic 
comibinations  aild  mergers  of  the  modern  world.  It  then 
seemed  needful  only  to  rid  the.  world  of  the  feudal  lawis  in 
restraint  of  trade  to  free  the  world  and  establish  a  democracy 
of  opportunity  in  which  only  the  naturally  inferior  would  fail. 

But,  as  H.  M.  Hyndman  says,  "eve.nts  move  faster  than 
minds."  The  rise  to  power  of  this  tradimg  and  exploiting  class 
after  the  revolutionary  destruction  of  the  power  of  the  feudal 
aristocracy,  quickly  developed  the  same  class  divisions  and 
class  contradictions  that  had  formerly  characterized  feudal 
society.  The  trading  class,  formerly  repressed,  became  the 
dominant  class.  It  soon  acquired  class  consciousness  and 
awareness  of  the  property  distinctions  that  separated  it  by  an 
immeasurable  gulf  from  the  wage  workers  who  created  the 
commodities  in  which  it  trafficked.  /But  the  ideas  and  ideol- 
ogy of  its  origins  persisted  in  its  educational  system  and  edu- 
cation was  founded  upon  the  fallacy  that  bourgeois  society 
had  established  its  ideal — equality  of  opportunity.  It  per- 
Bists  in  that  absurd  assumption  today,  whe.n  the  integration  of 
its  capital,  the  concentration  of  wealth  into  fewer  and  fewer 
hands,  with  the  spread  of  its  dominion  across  the  world  have 
absorbed  the  formerly  undeveloped  resources  of  the  earth  and 
left  the  newer-born  generations  nothing  but  the  opportunity 
to  become  wage  islaves  to  the  class  which  owins  and  controls 
the  tools  of  wealth  production  and  all  the  natural  resources 


61 


of  land  and  minerals.  These  newer  arrivals  upon  the  world 
scene  constitute  a  distinct  class  in  society.  They  are  the  dis- 
inherited millions,  e.ver  increasing  in  relative  and  absolute 
numbers,  who  are  born  without  wealth  amd  educated  into  a 
social  universe  in  which  they  have  neither  property  nor  the 
me.ans  of  acquiring  property.  They  constitute  the  world 
proletariat — the  masses  who  have  nothing  to  traffic  in  but 
their  labor  power  which  they  must  sell  to  the  owning  and  em- 
ploying class  for  the  right  to  live.  To  impose  upon  them  an 
impractical  bourgeois  education  in  which  the  idea  of  growing 
rich  by  engaging  in  trade  and  business  prevails,  when  they 
will  never  have  that  opportunity,  and  when  the  State  itself  is 
devoted  to  the  business  of  barring  them  from  such  an  oppor- 
tunity and  fixing  their  status  as  wage  slaves  eternally,  is  an 
obvious  absurdity.  And  yet  that  is  just  what  bourgeois  edu- 
cation does. 

By  way  of  practical  illustration,  we  have  selected  at 
random  from  the.  hundreds  of  classified  ads  in  the  weekly 
"Nation''  under  the  heading,  ^'Positions  Wanted,''  the  follow- 
ing three,  which  are  typical  of  the  absurd  mis-education  for 
a  career  in  life  in  which  the  opportunities  are  disappearing 
as  the  class  system  in  society  develops  a  class  crisis: 

Young  man,  university  senior,  competent  to  tutor  in  Latin,  French, 
Greek,  Music,  English,  desires  position  with  family  for  summer.  An  ex- 
cellent companion  for  adults.    Drives  car  well.    Box  2368,  c/o  The  Nation. 

Versatile  young  man,  college  graduate,  would  like  to  make  a  travel- 
tcur  with  family,  as  tutor.  Authority  on  drama,  English,  French,  Latin. 
Plays  piano  well,  drives  any  make  of  car.  Charming  adult  conversational- 
ist, indispensable  at  the  bridge-table.     Box  2369,  c/o  The  Nation. 

Harvard  law  student  desires  job  for  summer*  experienced  chauffeur, 
lifeguard,  swimming  instructor,  hotel  clerk,  waiter,  and  tutor.  Anything 
will  do.     What  have  you?     Box  2287,  c/o  The  Nation. 

An  ''authority  on  drama,  English,  French,  Latin.  Plays 
piano  well,  indispensable  at  the  bridge  table,"  wants  a  job 
driving  a  car!  A  "Harvard  law  student,  chauffeur,  life  guard, 
swimming  instructor,  hotel  clerk,  waiter  and  tutor"  wants  a 
job  at  anything.  ''What  have  you?"  Such  is  education  in 
bourgeois  society!  Sterile  versatility  that  leads  to  nothing 
and  nowhere ! 

The  purpose  of  education  is  to  teach  one  to  understand 
reality  and  to  adapt  one's  self  to  it  in  the  struggle  for  exist- 


62 


ence.  Reality  and  the  means  of  survival  are  one  thing  to  a 
worker  and  quite  another  to  an  exploiter  of  labor;  to  one  who 
has  to  maike  a  living  with  his  hands  and  skill  and  to  another 
whose  purpose  in  life  and  means  of  life  are  the  deception  and 
spoliation  of  those,  who  labor.  The  one  is  a  creator;  the  other 
is  a  beast  of  prey.  They  have  nothing  in  common— not  even 
a  common  morality.  To  instruct  the  workers  in  the  righteous- 
ness of  the  methods  and  morality  of  a  system  that  despoils 
them  and  de:nies  them  access  to  the  means  of  life  is  to  defeat 
the  primary  object  of  education.  It  is  to  discipline  them  as 
victims  of  a  condition  that  not  only  does  not  adapt  them  to 
the  realities  of  life,  but  makes  them  oblivious  to  the  re.alities 
about  them  which  work  to  their  destruction. 

Working  Class  Education 

Workers'  education  is,  of  necessity,  an  education  in  class 
consciousness.  IJ:  is  so  because  the  economic  st?:ucture  in 
which  they  are  born  and  without  adaption  to  which  they  can 
not  survive,  is  owne.d  and  controlled  by  a  distinct  class — the 
capitalist  class.  If  the  truth  is  taught  to  the  working  class 
it  must  reveal  to  them  the  character  of  that  function  which 
they  perform  in  the  economic  structure.  It  must  show  them 
how  the  economic  structure  works  in  all  its  parts.  It  must 
analyze  the  working  of  the  pitiless  machine  and  reduce  to 
exact  measurement  the  benefits  which  they  as  sellers  of  labor 
power — ^their  inevitable  lot — ^receive ;  and  what  the  other  class 
— the  owners  of  the  structure — receive.  If  it  doe.s  not  reveal 
this  it  fails  to  educate  at  all.  It  miseducates  and  deceives.  It 
creates  a  false  concept  of  the  world  and  of  social  relation- 
ships. It  prepares  them  for  helpless  exploitation  and  victimi- 
zation. If  the  facts  of  society  are  taught  to  the  worker  he 
just  inevitably  becomes  class  conscious. 

The  necessity  of  class  education  is  imposed  upon  the 
working  class  by  the  facts  of  industry.  That  striving  toward 
life — the  will  to  live — which  is  inherent  in  every  living  cell  of 
life,  makes  it  necessary  to  educate  the  workers  in  matters  that 
are.  deleterious  to  their  health,  detrimental  to  their  lives  and 
restrictive  of  their  chances  of  survival.  The  capitalist  system 
or  any  system  in  which  one  class  lives  at  the  expeinse  of  and 
by  the  .deliberate  exploitation  of  another,  is  opposed  to  the 
chances  of  survival  of  the  workers.    Their  lives  are  lived  at 


63 


a  hazard  by  the  imposition  of  adverse  working  and  Mving  con- 
ditions. Their  meager  share  in  the  social  division  of  the  vi^ealth 
produced  by  their  iabor  is  insufficient  to  sustain  life.  The 
hazard  of  existence  is  increased  by  their  function  in  the  econ- 
omic structure  as  workers  while  that  of  the  owning  class  is 
reduced  at  the  expense  of  the  workers.  Life  insurance  and 
health  statistics  prove  this  to  be  a  fact— a  reality.  To  neglect 
instruction  in  such  vital  facts  is  to  miseducate.  And  to  fail  to 
attribute  the  facts  cited  to  their  cause — a  class  system  in  so- 
ciety—is to  lie  (by  suppression  -of  the  truth.  That  is  why  edu- 
cation in  class  consciousness  is  Becessar}^ 

Class  systems  are  not  eternal.  They  are  an  incident  in 
the  history  of  the  human  family.  Class  division  is  at  war  with 
the  biologicial  forces  that  make  for  race  survival.  That  is  why 
eyery  class  system  in  society  has  ultimately  been  over- 
thrown by  revolution.  That  is  why  the  growth  of 
the  economic  structure,  which  is  a  thing  distinct  and 
separate  from  the  race  itself,  has  revealed  a  constant 
tendency  to  widen  the  scope  of  the  ruling  class  and  to  em- 
brace an  ever  widening  number  of  the  race.  Modern  history 
is  a  comparatively  brief  span  of  years  compared  to  the  biolog- 
ical ages.  It  is  a  period  of  some  fe.w  thousand  years  as  con- 
trasted with  the  millions  of  years  in  which  the  race  was  dc: 
veloping  from  the  firstlings  of  human  kind.  It  emerges  at 
its  dawn  from  a  stage  of  primitive,  communism  in  which  the 
individual  was  supreme.  It  begins  the  building  of  a  social 
economic  structure.  It  gains  security  of  existence  by  sacri- 
ficing individual  liberty.  But  evermore  throughout  the  com- 
paratively brief  period  in  which  the  economic  structure  has 
be.en  in  process  of  evolution,  the  biological  forces  have  been 
at  war  with  the  class  forms.  Revolution  after  revolution  has 
broadened  the  ruling  class  lines  and  admitted  an  increasing 
number  of  the  race  to  opportunity.  The  slave  owning  patri- 
cian gave,  way  before  a  more  numerous  class — -the  feudal  no- 
bility; the  feudal  nobility  in  turn  was  overthrown  by  a  more 
numerous  class — ^the  bourgeoisie;  the  increasing  numbers  of 
the  proletariat  are  chalknging  the.  bourgeoisie  for  control  of 
the  economic  structure  and  the  class  lines  have  a  tendency  to 
broaden  and  disappear  in  a  final  classless  society  in  which 
the  workers  will  be  the  only  class,  embracing  the  entire  human 
family,  with  ownership  and  control  of  the  means  of  life  in 


64 


the.  hands  of  the  collectivity.  This  is  the  final  solution  of 
social  problems — industrial  democracy. 

Passing  of  Class  Systems 

The  necessity  that  gave  rise  to  classes  in  society  has 
passed.  The  social  economic  structure  is  fairly  complete.  Its 
capacity  to  produce  wealth  has  increased  to  a  point  v/here  it 
is  more  than  ample  to  provide  sustenance  for  all  who  will 
work.  The  masses  have  been  disciplined  to  use  the  social 
machinery  socially  without  coercion.  The  only  anarchic  sur- 
vivals are  the  ruling"  class  aind  their  parasitic  existence.  Pro- 
duction has  beein  socialized.  It  remains  only  to  socialize  con- 
trol of  the  economic  structure  and  eliminate  expropriation. 

Workers'  education  comprehends  this  outline.  Its  pur- 
pose is  to  teach  the  facts  of  industry  instead  of  the  slave  mor- 
ality of  the  bourgeois  schools.  Its  technical  training  is  to 
develop  technique,  for  the  co-ordination  of  the  productive 
forces  in  production  for  use  and  not  for  the  maintenance  of  a 
useless  class  of  capitalist  parasites.  It  is  to  render  education 
a  vital,  living,  needful  thing  that  makes  for  human  survival 
instead  of  suppression.  It  is  to  develop  the  spirit  of  freedom 
and  democracy  without  v/hich  the  race  can  make  no  progress. 

The  I.  W.  W.  is  engaged  in  this  task  because  it  is  one  of 
the  necessary  functions  in  working  class  progress.  It  is  the 
light-bearer  of  modern  democracy — industrial  democracy.  It 
is,  like  every  progressive  force  in  society,  opposed  by  the  class 
antagonisms  of  an  outworn  system  of  ruling  class  education 
in  ''social  control."  It  is  devoted  to  realism  and  scientific 
truth.  It  is  opposed  to  class  fictioins  and  illusions.  It  is  purely, 
m.at'erialistic.  Its  p'urpose  is  to  strip  the  social  structure  of  all 
its  traditional  myths  and  lay  its  structure  and  its  workings 
ibare.  It  is  to  train  the  working  class  mind  and  hand  to  free- 
dom from  ruling  class  control  and  exploitation — ^to  enable  the 
working  class  to  master  the  world  and  control  it  in  the  interest 
of  mankind.  It  is  to  enable  them  to  "-build  the  structure  of 
the  new  society  within  the  shell  of  the  old.*' 

To  accomplish  this  it  carries  on  its  work  of  education  by 
the  means  that  lie  to  hand — ^through  its  papers,  pamphlets, 
lecture  bureaus,  and  through  its  first  established  college,  the 
Work  Peoples  College  of  Duluth.  But  more  potent  still  is  the 
education  it  carries  on  at  the  point  of  production,  on  the  jo'b. 


65 


It  interprets  the  phenomena  of  the  class  struggle  as  they  de- 
velop in  the  form  of  strikes  and  lock-outs.  It  traces  their  ori- 
gins. It  instructs  the  workers  in  the  nature  of  organization 
and  its  purposes.  It  shows  them  how  to  adapt  organization 
to  the  changing  economic  structure  to  the  end  of  building  up 
power  in  the  workers'  hands.  It  is  developing  the  institutions 
of  working  class  control  of  the  world  through  its  job  commit- 
tees, district  councils,  business  meetings,  referendums  and 
conventions.  It  is  striving  toward  realistic  co-ordination  of 
the  vv^orking  class  forces  in  the  struggle  for  power.  It  is  plastic, 
expansive,  free,  democratic,  progressive.  It  is  the  advance 
guard  of  that  rising  proletariat  which  is  preparing  to  take  over 
tne  means  of  production  and  distribution  in  the  interest  of  the 
human  race  and  to  banish  exploitation  and  slavery  of  mind 
and  body  forever  from  the  human  scene. 


60 


INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONS 
OF  THE  l.W.W. 

By  JOSEPH  WAGNER 

Writer  and  One  of  The  I.  W.  W.  Founders 

Everything  in  the  universe,  from  atoms  to  solar  systems, 
is  continually  moving,  char^ging,  transforming,  developing; 
likev^ise  the  history  of  the  human  race,  is  nothing  but  a  cease- 
less change,  a  continuous  development.  In  the  course  of  its 
history  classes  are  formed;  these  classes  continually  struggle 
for  supremacy  and,  after  prolonged  struggle,  one  class  suc- 
ceeds another  in  the  dominating  position.  The  struggle  con- 
tinues until  class  divisions  themselves  are  dissolved  and  la  new, 
classless  society  results. 

But  although  these  struggles  and  chaingeis  are  ceaseless, 
the  apparent  velocity  of  thejse  motions  greatly  varies  at  differ- 
ent periods.  There  are  times  when  whole  series  of  important 
changes  take  place  so  rapidly  as  to  take  one's  breath  away,  to 
be  followed  by  long  periods  of  apparent  stagnation,  when  so- 
cial evolution  seems  not  only  to  be  standing  still  but  even  to 
be  going  backward.  Of  course,  this  is  only  an  illusion,  for, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  historical  forces  are  continually  lat  work, 
only  their  manifestations  are  of  a  more  spectacular  nature  at 
one  time  than  at  another. 

We  have  witnessed  such  a  rapid  moving  period  immedi- 
ately after  the  world  war,  when  the  convulsions  of  old  society 
appeared  to  be.  the  birth  pangs  of  the  social  revolution  and  of 
the  proletarian  commonwealth. 

Another,  though  somewhat  less  spectacular  period  was 
that  beginning  with  the  present  century.  After  half  a  century 
of  chafing  under  the  tutelage  of  politicians,  the  working  class 
was  suddenly  showing  signs  of  maturity,  land  of  wanting  to 
lead  a  life  independent  of  its  foster-parents,  the  socialist  poli- 
ticians. 


67 


The  French  labor  unions,  at  the  time,  not  only  broke  com- 
pletely with  all  political  party  activity  but  actually  laid  down 
the  basis  of  what  is  known  as  revolutionary  syndicalism.  The 
main  teachings  of  this  school  were :  (1)  labor  unions,  by  the  use 
of  direct  action,  are  all-sufficient  to  carry  on  the  every-day 
struggle,  of  the  workers  against  their  employers;  (2)  labor 
imiions,  using  direct  action,  are  the  only  weapon  the  workers 
have  for  the  overthrow  of  the  present  system  of  exploitation; 
and  (3)  labor  unions  are  the  only  organs  capable  of  carrying 
on  production  and  distribution  (after  the  capitalist  system  is 
abolished. 

The  idea  took  so  we.ll  with  the  French  workers  that  in  a 
very  few  years  no  longer  the  old  traditional  Socialist  Party, 
but  the  General  Confederation  of  Labor  was  the  real  opposi- 
taon  force  confronting  the  French  ruling  class.  iPulling  off 
se.veral  district  and  general  strikes  in  quick  succession,  and 
completely  panalyzing  the  industrial  and  commercial  life  of 
France,  the  G,  C.  of  L.  was  able  to  treat  directly  with  the 
government  and  to  dictate  terms  to  it. 

After  half  a  century  of  unsuccessful  struggle- — pacifistic 
at  times  and  bloodily  terroristic  at  other  times- — led  by  poli- 
ticians against  czarism,  the  Russian  workers  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  medieval  czarist  despotism  could  be  confronted 
and  defeated  only  'by  the  organized  might  of  the  economic 
power  of  the  Russian  wage  workers.  Action  f  ollowing  thought, 
the  world  was  soon  amazed  at  the  magnitude  land  results  of 
the  revolutionary  struggles  of  Russia. 

The  spirit  of  independence  of  labor  unions  from  political 
party  tutelage  was  more  or  less  expressing  itself  in  all  Euro- 
peon  countries.  Even  in  Germany,  the  classic  land  of  social- 
democracy,  Bebel  had  to  reverse  the  old  dictum  of  his  party 
which  was:  '"General  strike  is  general  nonsense,"  land  to  admit 
that  the  general  strike  was  one  of  the  most  potent  weapons  of 
the  working  class.  Of  course  he  amended  it  to  "'political  gen- 
eral strike." 

During  the  same  period  mighty  and  rapid  changes  were 
taking  place  in  the  already  highly  developed  industrial  life 
of  the  United  States.  Gigantic  trusts  and  combines  were  spring- 
ing up  everywhere;  the  middle  cltass  being  pushed  to  the  wall 
was  panic  stricken;  its  politicians  armed  with  political  pop- 
guns went  out  "trust  busting,"  and  its  counterpart,  the  craft 


68 


union  system  of  the  country,  was  crumbling  and  falling  to 
pieces;  the  progressive  elements  in  the  craft  unions  were  clam- 
oring for  a  unionism  based  on  new,  modern  principles.  Such 
were  the  s'urroundings  in  which  the  L  W.  W.  was  born. 

Internationa!  In  Conception 

From  its  very  inception,  the  I.  W.  W.  was  international 
in  sentiment  and  scope.  Its  name.:  the  Industrial  Workers  of 
the  World  was  deliberately  chosen,  after  a  considerable  de- 
bate on  the  floor  of  the  initial  convention,  and  after  an  amend- 
ment to  name  it  the  "'Industrial  Workers  of  America"  was 
voted  down.  The  Conference  of  industrial  unionists  held  in 
Chioago,  January  1905,  ele.cted  a  committee  to  make  the  neces- 
sary arrangement  for  the  first  convention.  This  committee 
was  also  instructed  to  write  to  the  labor  organizations  based 
on  class  struggle,  of  all  countries,  inviting  them  to  send  dele- 
gates to  the  Chicago  convention.  None  sent  delegates,  but  the 
general  offices  of  the  lahor  unions  of  Germany,  Australia, 
France  and  Denmark  answered,  expressing  sympathy  with  the 
purposes  of  the  new  organization. 

Shortly  after  the  I.  W.  W.  was  launched,  I.  W.  W.  groups 
were  formed  in  England,  South  Africa,  Australia  and  other 
places,  carrying  the  new  message  to  the  workers  of  the  re- 
spective countrie^s,  and  in  several  countries  the  established 
unions  themselves  indorsed  the  principles  of  the  I.  W.  W.  and 
offered  to  enter  into  close  relationship  with  it. 

Later  on,  I.  W.  V/.  sections,  called  administrations,  were 
formed  in  several  countries,  among  them  in  Australia,  Chile, 
Mexico,  Sweden,  'Germany.  Especially  through  the  Marine 
Transport  Workers*  Industrial  Union  of  the  I.  W.  W.  were 
connections  with  workers  of  other  lands  made  and  maintained. 

These  I.  W.  W.  organizations,  outside  of  the  United 
States,  carried  on  their  work  /and  gave  good  account  of  them- 
selves. To  mention  only  a  few  instances:  The  port  of  the  city 
of  Tampic'O,  Mexico  was  completely  tied  up  by  the  I.  W.  W. 
in  J'uly  1920;  in  Chile  the  Marine  Transport  Workers  of  the 
I.  W.  W.  maintained  a  strike  for  three  months  in  order  to  stop 
the  exportation  of  cereals  needed  in  that  country,  but  exported 
by  the  profiteers;  on  J'uly  22  a  meeting  at  Santiago,  Chile 
Wias  raided,  and  a  long  reign  of  terror  was  established  in  that 
country,  throwing  back  for  a  time  organization  work  there. 


69 


The  Australian  Administration  of  the.  I.  W.  W.  was  or- 
ganized in  1911  and  it  made  steady  progress  until  the  war 
broke  out.  The  war  and  patriotic  hysteria  furnished  a  good 
excuse  to  the  master  class  and  its  political  flunkeys  to  attempt 
to  destroy  the.  hated  I.  W.  W.  In  September,  1915,  Tom  Bark- 
er, editor  of  our  organ,  "Direct  Action,"  was  sentenced  to  12 
months  for  writing:  ''Capitalists  your  country  needs  you. 
Workers  follow  your  masters!"  iDue  to  the  protests  raised 
by  the  Australian  workers.  Barker  v/as  released  after  seven 
days.  He  was  again  arrested  in  March  the  following  year 
and  sentenced  to  12  months,  for  his  L  W.  W.  activity;  but 
again,  due  to  popular  demonstrations  of  protest  he  was  re- 
leased in  August.  A  systematic  raid  and  persecution  was  in- 
augurated against  the  I.  W.  W.,  and  finally  it  looked  like  the 
I.  W.  W.  was  put  out  of  business  forever;  but  the  activity  of 
the  Australian  fellow  workers  has  been  revive.d  and  is  going 
at  full  swing  at  this  writing. 

Attempts  To  Form  An  International  Of  Action 

In  the  pre-war  period  international  relations  of  the  labor 
organizations  were  of  the  loose,st  kind.  Socialist  parties  and 
trade  union  organizations  were  loosely  connected  into  a  So- 
cialist and  Labor  International,  holding  Congresses  every  few 
years,  which  were,  hardly  more  than  oratorical  gab-feasts. 
There,  was  also  an  International  Secretariat  of  the  trade  lunions, 
whose  function  was  to  serve  as  a  central  information  bureau 
for  the  unions  of  the  different  countries,  to  compile  statistics, 
etc.  The  syndicalist  unions  of  various  countries  were  j'ust  pre- 
paring for  the  formation  of  an  International  of  labor  unions, 
when  the  world  war  broke  out,  /and  tnat,  of  course,  prevented 
any  further  progress  in  that  direction,  at  least  for  the  time 
■being.  The  war  also  severed  the  slender  ties  existing  through 
the  Socialist  and  Labor  International  and  the  International 
Secretariat  of  La:bor  Unions.  Therefore  lat  the  conclusion  of 
the  w^ar,  the  worke.rs  were  confronted  with  the  necessity  of 
creating  new  international  organs. 

But  after-war  conditions  were  materially  different  from 
pre-war  conditions.  The  war  exigencies  necessitated  mass 
production,  which  meant  centralization  of  industry;  the  state 
power  of  all  belligerent  countries  was  used  to  hasten  the  trans- 
formation from  small  capitalist  production  to  the  '^American*' 


70 


system.  Capitalist  production  had  made  giant  strides  towards 
internationialization  of  the  processes  of  production,  distribu- 
tion and  exploitation  of  labor.  This  made  it  easy  for  workers 
everywhere  to  see  the  necessity  of  labor  organization  on  an 
international  scale,  even  as  the  I.  W.  W.  had  earlier  conte.nd- 
ed.  And  it  was  ;also  apparent  that  the  new  international  had 
to  be  an  organization  of  action,  not  of  mere  phrase  peddling,  or 
of  mere  bureau  for  compiling  statistics. 

The  conservative-reformistic  labor  unions,  with  the  aid 
of  their  social-democratic  leaders  soon  consolidated  into  the 
Amsterdam  International.  But  lalthough  this  was  too  revolu- 
tionary for  Gompers  and  his  A.  F.  of  L.,  neither  the  I.  W.  W. 
nor  other  revolutionary  workers  would  have  anything  to  do 
with  it.  The  necessity  for  a  world  revolutionary  labor  inter- 
national was  still  apparent. 

From  among  the  sickening  failures  and  betrayals  of  the 
Socialists  and  labor  leaders  during  the  world  war,  the  I.  W. 
W.  ^^both  in  the  United  States  and  abroad — ^stood  out  con- 
spicuously as  an  uncompromising  champion  of  proletarian 
principles.  Its  prestige  was  high  among  the  class  conscious 
workers  of  the  world,  and  the  war  having  ended,  the  I.  W.  W. 
was  expected  to  take,  the  lead  in  the  reconstruction  of  the  in- 
ternational labor  front.  The  membership  of  the  I.  W.  W. 
were  aware  of  the  situation;  the  1920  General  Convention 
instructed  the.  General  Executive  Board  to  take  immediate 
steps  towards  callimg  together  an  international  conference 
of  revolutionary  labor  'unions  in  order  to  form  an  international 
organization.    But  some  disturbing  factors  intervened. 

Political  Meddlings 

The  disillusioned  and  betrayed  socialist  workers  of  all 
countries  rallied  to  the  call  of  the  Russian  socialists  and  f  ormed 
a  new  international  (Third)  of  political  parties  with  head- 
quarters at  Moscow.  To  this  body  flocked,  besides  sincere 
socialists,  a  horde  of  adventurers  and  buccaneers,  whose  am- 
bition was  to  secure  control  over  the  workers'  organizations 
in  the  various  countries.  These  worthies  saw  the  moves  of 
the  I.  W.  W.  and  other  revolutionary  unions,  and  they  we.nt 
to  work  to  nullify  as  much  as  possible  the  work  of  industrial- 
ists. Thus,  by  the  time  the  conference  called  by  the  I.  W.  W. 
and  syndicalists  was  to  meet  in  Berlin,  another  call  was  issued 

71 


from  Moscow,  calling  also  for  the  formation  of  a  labor  union 
interniational. 

Not  wishing  to  divide  the  proletarian  forces,  and  not  sus- 
pecting the  sincerity  of  the  iMoscow  call,  the  Berlin  delegates, 
after  discussing  among  themselves  their  common  attitude,  de- 
cided to  postpone  their  own  conference  and  to  participate  in 
the  Moscow  convention.  iBut,  to  their  sorrow,  they  discovered 
that  the  so-called  Labor  Union  International,  sponsored  by 
Moscow,  was  to  'be  no  more  than  a  subordinate  section  of  the 
political  Third  international.  Yet,  in  spite  of  that,  the  delegates 
of  many  labor  unions  remained  in  it,  hoping  that  the  faults 
could  be  remedied  later  from  within.  They  found  out  their 
mistake  when  it  was  too  late,  and  only  liquidation  and  disrup- 
tion awaited  their  organizations.  Thus  were  the  politicians 
aible  to  split  the  ranks  of  the  revolutionary  liabor  unions. 

Later,  the  syndicalist  organizations  came  together  and  or- 
ganized their  own  '''International  Workingmen's  Association," 
with  headquarters  in  Berlin.  However,  by  allowing  the  Mos- 
cow farce  to  take  place  hefore  their  own  organization  wias 
effected,  they  lost  a  good  deal  of  support,  and  were  thus  re- 
stricted to  strictly  syndicalist  and  anarchoHsyndicalist  organi- 
zations, mostly  lanarchist.  Thus  a  good  chance  for  Ibringing 
together  ail  the  revolutionary  non-political  labor  unions  was 
lost. 

Present  L  W.  W.  Portion 

The  I.  W.  W.  Ibeing  neither  a  craft,  a  political  nor  a  strict- 
ly syndicalist  organization,  is  affiliated  with  neither  of  the 
three  Internationals.  Being  'by  principle  opposed  to  political 
bunk  and  to  craft  form  of  organization,  the  i.  W.  W.  finds  it- 
self in  opposition  to  'both  the  Amsterdam  and  Moscow  inter- 
nationals. It  is  in  friendly  relations  with  that  of  Berlin,  and 
is  willing  to  co-operate  with  the  'unions  composing  it,  when- 
ever the  occasio.n  presents  itself.  In  the  course  of  its  existence, 
the  I.  W.  W.  always  supported  every  struggle  of  the  workers 
against  the  master  class  everywhere,  indifferent  to  what  lunion 
the  struggling  workers  are  affiliated  with. 

There  are  revolutionary  labor  union  'bodies  in  every  in- 
dustrially developed  country,  that  like  the  I.  W.  W.,  cannot 
identify  themselves  with  either  of  the  present  Internationals. 
The  I.  W.  W.  deems  it  its  duty  to  keep  in  touch  with  these 
bodies,  to  discuss  with  them  our  differences  of  tactics,  pro- 


72 


grams,  etc.  This  has  'been  done  in  late  years  and  we  discov- 
ered that  the  I.  W.  W.  program  is  received  favorably  in  the 
European  countries. 

This  friendly  interco'urse  and  inter-discussions  is  bound  to 
result  in  a  closer  unity  and  in  a  more  extensive  co-operation, 
and  will  eventually  lead  to  organic  unity  of  these  bodies  inter- 
nationally. It  is  possible  that  when  a  measure  of  organization 
on  this  line  is  laiccomplishe.d,  a  union  with  the  Berlin  Interna- 
tional will  also  take  place.  For  while  the  1.  W.  W.  has  no 
logical  place  in  a  purely  syndicalist  and  anarcho-syndicalist 
International,  the  entrance  of  a  larger  number  of  industrial 
unions  into  it  would  alter  its  character  of  "purity",  and  would 
transform  it  into  something  like,  the  I.  W.  W.,  where  anarchists, 
socialists  and  other  ists  can  work  together  in  harmony,  for  a 
common  program. 

Specifically  the  I.  W.  W.  is  the  result  of  highly  central- 
ized American  capitalism.  This  particular  form  and  substance 
of  capitalism  is  spreading  rapidly  all  over  the  world.  And  as 
shadow  follows  the  body,  so  the  I.  W.  W.  should  and  will  fol- 
low capitalism  to  the  farthest  reaches  of  the  earth. 

It  is  said  that  capitalism  is  producing  its  own  grave  dig- 
gers; these  grave  diggers  should  be  union  me.n  and  they  should 
carry  the  red  cards  of  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World. 


73 


AT  THE  CROSSROADS 


By  JOHN  A.  GAHAN 

Editor  of  Industrial  Solidarity 

We  have  wriggled,  crawled,  stumbled,  staggered,  sported, 
marched  from  primordial  islime  to  the  threshold  of  television. 
Animalistic  cries  of  the  gibbering  arboreal  beast  rise,  to  lyric 
beauty  in  Bori  and  Smirnov.  Evolves  the  tom-tom's  savage 
raonotone  to  polyphonic  ecstasies  before  the  baton  of  Stokow- 
ski.  Across  skies  shoot  airplanes  at  six  miles  a  minute;  Ameri- 
ca is  spanned  by  man's  winged  wonder  in  fourteen  hours.  To 
the  sea  he  returns,  whence  came  his  earliest  life-be.aring  an- 
cestors— ^^but  he  returns  in  rigid  submersibles,  leviathans  of 
ste.el  and  speed,  incomparably  mightier  than  all  that  dwell 
in  the  waters.  Or  taking  cunningly  annealed  glass  masses,  he 
beholds  a  countless  array  of  v/orids,  many  millions  of  light 
years  distant.  These  whirling  worlds,  far-flung  through  infi- 
nite spiace,  he  weighs,  analyzes,  pondejs.  Their  orbits  are 
charted,  their  ages  gauged,  their  speeds  computed  from  his 
.  vigil  on  lonely  mountain  peak  or  desert  reach.  Peering 
through  other  artful  fabrications  of  the  glass  maker,  he 
watches  another  silent  'universe,  infinitesimally  small,  a  uni- 
verse of  micro-organisms.  In  germs  he.  sees  terrific  forces 
that  scourge  and  slay.  Having  seen  the  perils  he  leiarns  im- 
munities and  cures.  The  same  instrument  reveals  to  the  fascin- 
ated eyes  of  a  Rutherford  wonders  of  e.nergy  jailed  in  atomic 
prisons,  the  electronic  promise  that,  once  harnessed,  forever 
frees  man  from  age-old  drudgery  and  renders  grotesque  our 
titan  machines,  fit  then  only  as  museum  pieces. 

Think  not,  however,  that  the  writer  hiais  become  inocu- 
lated with  the  virus  of  the  American  masses'  endemic  optimism 
for  vicarious  prosperity.  This  seeming  paeon  of  man's  mar- 
vellous achievements  is  sung  Oiuly  because  incalculable  possi- 
bilities depend  on  that  evolutionary  record.  The  concomitant 
history  of  mass  enslavement  enduring  to  the  thrice,  blessed 
year  of  Light  and  Our  Lord  1930  is  more  cruel,  more  damniahle 


74 


than  all  the  tortures  that  might  be  conceived  in  the  twiste.d, 
fanatic  brain  of  a  Torquemada  or  a  Massachusetts  district 
attorney. 

Need  we  unearth  a  long-buried  past  to  corroborate  this 
charge  of  iniquity  that  our  good  patriots  and  other  nice,  re- 
spectable people  will  find  so  iniquitous?  Hardly.  The  sound 
of  every  factory  whistle  is  a  shriek  of  violence.  We  need  but 
hear  it  unde,rstandingly  to  know  this,  for  it  summons  to  slavery 
the  human  work  animals.  We  ^need  but  hear  endless,  tired 
trudging  of  millions  of  little,  ragged  feet  going  to  the  mills 
and  mines  of  our  grand  Republic,  there  to  be  incorporated — 
iblood,  bone,  hope,  life,  all — into  commodities  that  sell  for 
profits.  We  need  simply  to  reflect  that  of  the  2,000,000,000 
inhabitants  of  terra  firma  .all  but  comparatively  few  are.  hun- 
gry, are  insecure,  are  ignorant,  are  slaves.  We  have  merely 
to  remember  the.  capitalistic  playf  ulness  of  1914-'18,  in  which 
millions  upon  millions  of  working  class  men  and  'boys  were 
butchered  and  maimed,  while  millions  m'ore  of  the  slave  popu- 
lations suffered  vile  and  fatal  disejases.  The  shell-shocked 
still  scream,  and  will  still  be  screaming  when  the  "'best  of  all 
possible  systems  in  the  'best  of  all  possible  wordis"  again  drives 
our  kind  to  wholesale,  murder  glorified  ;by  patriots  as  ''civilized 
warfare,''  sanctified  by  the  clergy  as  '"'civilized  warfare,"  land 
commercialized  thorO'Ughly  by  the  bourses,  pits,  curbs  and 
'changes. 

We  write  in  America  the  Prosperous,  the  earth's  richest 
land,  matchless  haven  of  opportunity — where  under  the  folds 
of  her  starry  flag  eight  or  nine  million  wage  slaves  can  not 
find  masters;  where  an  ever  intensifying  battle  for  bread  is 
sending  ever  more  to  find  it  in  lunatic  asylums  or  to  graves 
where  they  shall  not  require  it.  America,  the  showy— where 
money  is  gO'd  and  m^ost  of  the.  people  consequently  godless. 
What  a  wonderfiul  country  are  we,  with  all  of  our  inventions, 
our  machines,  our  radios,  our  mammoth  factories  and  our  peo- 
ple in  the  mass  regimented  to  sausage-like  samene.ss,  a  same- 
ness of  ignorance,  docility,  servility,  shoddy,  iscraps,  shacks 
and  speed-up !  This  America  needs  another  Walt  Whitman 
to  sing  it.  Our  farmers  in  Iowa,  too  poor  to  buy  coal  have  a 
way  of  burning  com  for  fuel ;  our  mJners  sit  in  their  hovel 
homes  idle,  and  hungry  for  Iowa  corn.  Workers  need  shoe,s, 
and  other  workers  want  to  produce  them,  'but  Lynn  and  Brock- 


75 


ton  factories  stagnate — ^because  you  do  not  get  shoes  under 
the  superlatively  sane  capitalist  system  because  you  need 
them,  but  when  you  have  the  price  to  pay  for  them.  The  dif- 
ference is  very  tangible. 

Production  under  capitalism  is  anti-social.  It  is  anti-social 
because  it  operates  lagainst  the  interests  of  the  producing  class, 
the  great  social  group.  It  refuses  to  act  without  the  music 
of  clinking  golden  profits.  It  endures  on  a  slave  ;basis.  In 
its  most  anti-social  aspe.ct  it  creates  bayonets,  battleships,  bul- 
lets and  police  clubs,  to  say  nothing  of  its  criminal  creation 
of  mansions  for  a  parasitic  minority  and  shanties  for  the  useful 
many.  Through  the  pages  of  this  unique  pamphlet,  which  the 
writer  has  carefully  perused  in  manuscript,  every  conceivable 
argument,  Ibrilliantly  presented  with  clearest  logic,  has  been 
advanced  by  revolutionary  industrial  union  thinkers,  to  show 
what  has  to  'be  done,  to  make  production  pro-social.  This  writer 
need  not  weary  you  with  repetition.  We  may  profitably  dwell 
on  our  indictment  of  the  system.  What  one  word  sums  up  the 
damnation  of  bourgeois  rule?  Hunger. 

What  a  word — hunger — in  the.  human  understanding! 
We  rarely  think  of  other  than  the  helly  form  of  hunger  be- 
cause that  is  so  elemental,  and  the  workers  hiave  ever  been  com- 
pelled to  fight  so  desperately  to  assuage  it.  Yet  in  a  world 
where,  there  is  such  a  diversity  of  heauty  in  fine  music,  drama, 
sculpture,  letters  and  other  arts  and  sciences  conducing  to 
man's  aesthetic,  emotional  and  intellectual  good,  depriviation 
of  these  satisfactions  is  a  very  real  sort  of  hunger  for  those 
with  the  faintest  appetite  for  them.  But  what  can  the  degra- 
dation, the  denial  ;be  called  that  goes  so  dee.p  that  it  renders 
most  of  the  slaves  insensible  even  to  their  laspiration?  How 
long  could  this  mionstrous  capitalism  survive  if  the  workers 
unde.rstood  their  loss  and  resented  it?  Capitalism  is  synonmy- 
ous  with  violence,  and  the  handmaid  of  chiaos.  Its  benefici- 
aries care  less  for  us  than  for  dray-horses.  While  we  work 
we  are  suffered  to  receive  oats  and  a  stall.  When  unemployed 
the  oats  vanish  ,and  the  stall  is  removed.  The  biped  work 
beast  must  destroy  the  monster  that  bestializes  him,  must  put 
capitalism  in  its  grave  before  manhood  and  womanhood  in 
their  finest  flower,  the  flower  of  freedom,  can  flourish  in  the 
world,  'before  hunger  of  body  and  of  mind  and  heart  are  for- 
ever banished  from  the  race. 


76 


We,  the  workers,  are  many,  though  divided  because  of 
Ignorance.  They,  the  capitalists,  are.  few,  but  strong  organi- 
zationally, ruthless  in  policy,  grimly  determined  to  increase 
in  power  and  to  perpetuate  their  dictatorship  over  the  hope- 
less existence  of  a  robbed  class.  The  thoughtletss  might  con- 
clude that  there,  is  no  ray  of  hope  for  the  workers.  Indeed, 
this  despairing  attitude  is  like  a  terrible  paralysis,  preventing 
many  from  acting  for  working  class  progress.  We  have 
reiached  an  era  where  action  may  not  m'uch  longer  he  delayed 
if  we  are  to  escape  the  heavy  heel  of  a  tyranny  unprecedented 
in  the  annals  of  man. 

Fascism  in  hydra-headed  guise,  spreads  across  the  world. 
Vast  masses  of  people  seem  stunned  into  an  apathy  ill  suited 
to  their  great  need  for  the  extension  of  liberty  through  indus- 
trial enfranchisement.  Yet  there  is  more  than  a  ray  of  hope; 
there  is  a  flood  of  hope'is  light,  for  the  workers  have  numerical 
ascendency,  theirs  is  the  creative  power  and  eagerness  to 
build;  social  justice,  is  a  sense  peculiarly  their  own,  evolution 
favors  them,  and  they  are  educable.  You  who  are  low  in 
spirit  because  the  apathy  magnifies  itself  in  yo'ur  vision,  con- 
sider the  strikes  of  the  workers  las  outlined  in  this  pamphlet; 
think  of  the  courage  of  the  vanguard  of  the  revolutionary 
hosts;  regard  their  tact,  imagination,  solidarity.  Hear  them 
singing  as  they  fight.  Take  he.art  in  the  thrilling  spectacle 
of  their  defiance  of  outlaws  in  uniform  and  extra-legal  moibs 
that  would  throttle  the  message  of  social  upheaval.  Then 
away  with  despair;  down  with  cynicism!  Up  action  and  faith, 
for  truly,  '"Evolution  makes  hope  scientific"! 

Can  we,  having  learned  through  battles  how  to  fight,  hav- 
ing suffered  the  miseries  of  defeiat,  and  the  joys  of  victory 
over  an  implacable  foe;  can  we,  see  anything  lahead  for  the 
working  class  but  eventual  triumph?  Dare  we  the  despondent 
thought  of  going  down  to  the  shambles  under  that  Iron  Heel 
limned  by  the  fanciful  London? 

"''O,  Liberty,  can  man  resign  thee. 
Once,  having  felt  thy  generous  flame?" 

The  reaction,  the  fascist  hordes,  ultra-capitalistic  agents 
by  their  desperate  de.eds  but  show  the  desperate  straits  of  a 
decaying  system.   Our  duty,  that  which  should  be  the  main- 


77 


spring  of  our  lives,  the  joy  of  our  hearts,  is  to  agitate  without 
ceasing  until  we  have  proved  the  le.aven  to  move  the  suffer- 
ing,  inert  mass  to  revolt.  They  are  educahle;  ours  is  to  edu- 
cate them.  Our  lagitators  have  again  and  again  caused  them 
by  thousands  to  hurl  defiance  at  the  employers,  to  battle  as 
an  indomitable  phalanx  to  victory  after  victory.  Multiply  our 
agitational  power  by  every  'I.  W.  W.  'being  a  tireless  agitator, 
and  we  can  inspire  the  workers  !by  millions  to  challenge  not 
alone  capitalist  routine  of  day  to  day  in  production,  hut  capi- 
talist ov/nership  itse.lf  'of  the  productive  equipment.  Eveiry- 
thing  hinges  on  action.  All  will  be  won  Iby  action  or  lost  be- 
cause of  its  lack. 

In  one  hundred  years  the  workers  have  moved  vastly  near- 
er to  freedom  than  in  all  the  ages  before  this  century.  When 
the  fierce  thought  first  burned  in  the  modern  worker's  brain 
questioning  capitalist  property  rights,  in  that  hour  was  doomed 
fne  regime  of  the.  ro'bbers  of  trade  and  commerce.  For  that 
thought  will  not  die.  It  lives  and  grows  and  circles  the  globe. 
It  is  in  every  land,  in  every  port,  in  every  industry,  in  every 
city,  and  every  village.  It  is  a  restless,  sleepless,  gnawing, 
deathleiss  thought  of  international  tongue,  the  red  thought  of 
social  revolution.  Agitate  mightily,  bravely,  incessantly  for  its- 
propagation!  That  can  ibe  your  only  claim  to  glory,  a  glory 
surpassing  that  of  kings  and  generals  and  all  the  miakers  of 
slavery  and  of  death,  for  that  is  a  glory  of  striving  to  bring 
to  the  old,  sad  world  happiness  for  all,  happiness  founded  on 
the  justice  of  industrial  equality  and  freedom  from  the  chains 
of  the  wage  system. 

For  us  the  night  is  long  but  we  envision  a  re,d  dawn,  and  in 
the  all-pervading  shadows  of  the  unsocial  derangement  of  cap- 
italism we  keep  alight  the  bivouac,  incendiary  fires  of  hope 
and  ''fan  the  flames  of  discontent."  The  night  will  pass.  Our 
species,  the  human  workers,  have  built  a  world.  Evolution 
of  the  tool  has  at  last  hrought  them  within  reach  of  the  touch- 
stone making  for  universal  abundance  in  equality.  Niature 
no  longer  is  a  niggard.  The  genius  and  energy  of  the  working 
class,  laiboring  with  hands  and  mindS;  have  shown  that  there 
need  be  no  want,  no  hunger,  no  famine.  All  that  stands  in 
the  way  is  the  arch-criminal,  Oapitalism,  and  we  are  in  every 
part  'of  the  world  ceaselessly  sapping  its  foundations. 


78 


It  will  fall.  With  it  forever  go  slavery,  crime,  war,  ignor- 
ance, poverty  and  waste.  On  the  ruins  will  rise  the  Industrial 
Commonwealth,  home  of  a  free  race,  happy,  fair,  friendly 
'Vithout  dise.ase  of  flesh  or  brain."  Thus  will  be  reialized  the 
hope  of  martyrs,  the  dream  of  sages,  by  the  almighty  strength 
of  the  organized  industrial  workers  of  the  world. 


79 


Published  by 

INDUSTRIAL  WORKERS  OF  THE  WORLD 

1001  West  Madii<|ibf»^^t,  Chicago,  111. 

Xri8titni3#  of  Tndustrial  Relatione. 
TIr]i vort:vi,  by  of  California 
1 0  B  Aiw; e  1  e  3  24,  Cal  i  f  o  m  'l  a 


ONE  BIG  UNION 
OF  THE  I .  W.  W. 

(CHART  INCLUDED) 


PRICE  TEN  CENTS 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE 
INDUSTRIAL  WORKERS  OF  THE  WORLD 
1001  WEST  MADISON  ST.,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 


t 


Printed  hy  the  Printing  and  Publishing  Workers  Industrial  Union,  No.  450,  I.  W.  W. 


One  Big  Union  of  the  I.W.W. 

Social  relations  are  the  reflex  of  the  grouping  of  industrial 
possessions.  The  owners  of  all  resources  and  means  of  wealth 
form  a  class  by  themselves ;  the  owners  of  labor  power,  as  their, 
only  possession  in  the  market,  another.  Political,  judicial,  edu- 
cational and  other  institutions  only  mirror  the  prevailing  system 
of  ownership  in  the  resources  and  means  of  production. 

One  class — ^the  capitalist  class— owns  and  controls  the  social 
necessaries,  to  wit:  the  economic  resources  of  the  world.  That 
class,  for  its  own  protection  and  perpetuation  in  power,  subjects 
all  institutions  to  its  own  interests.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
is  a  clasS: — the  working  class — which  is  eventually  to  change  the 
whole  system  of  the  ownership  of  the  means  of  production. 
Intelligent  workers  realize  that  immediately  following  the 
change,  these  social  relations  will  also  be  shifted;  institutions 
deriving  their  support  and  sustenance  from  the  class  in  power 
will  be  made  to  conform  to  new  conditions  after  the  overthrow 
of  the  existing  industrial  system. 

Social  structures  collapse  as  a  result  of  ever  recurring  changes 
in  their  economic  foundation.  But  the  new  structure  is  not  a 
ready-made  product  of  each  of  the  epochs  of  reconstruction.  A 
historic  process  of  evolution  reaches  a  climax  in  a  revolutionary 
upheaval.  Achievements  of  preceding  epochs  are  always  utilized 
in  the  constructive  work  of  a  never-resting,  always  advancing 
civilization. 

Decaying  elements  re'nder  nourishment  to  Mother  Earth  for 
the  generation  of  new  species  and  structures.  Nothing  is  lost  in 
the  reciprocal  process  of  nature.  Precisely  so  in  social  systems. 
Achievements  of  social  and  industrial  evolutions  are  always  pre- 
served after  a  revolutionary  climax  removes  all  obstacles  to 
further  developments.  Only  the  class  previously  dominating 
the  policies  and  actions  of  the  social  institutions  is  supplanted 
by  the  revolutionary  change ;  ownership  in  the  means  of  life  is 
shifted  to  another  class. 

3 


Capitalist  ownership  of  industries  had  its  origin  in  the  un- 
folding of  conditions  which  hastened  the  downfall  of  the  feudal 
system,  and  the  advent  of  the  capitalist  class  to  power. 

Working  class  control  of  industries,  by  all  engaged  in  the 
process  of  production,  must  build  its  foundation  on  the  highly 
perfected  form  and  methods  of  production,  and  upon  the  con- 
ditions which  accelerate  the  passing  away  of  the  capitalist  sys- 
tem of  ownership  in  the  instruments  of  production  and  distri- 
bution. 

The  feudal  lords  had  to  surrender  their  scepter  to  the  ascend- 
ing bourgeoise,  better  known  today  as  the  capitalist  class.  The 
latter,  at  the  outset,  had  in  view  only  the  free  development  of 
all  forces  of  production,  in  an  era  of  unrestricted  competition 
between  individuals.  When,  over  a  century  ago,  the  change 
was  consumated  by  revolutions,  the  instruments  of  production 
were  more  equally  distributed.  They  were  in  possession  of  a 
multitude  of  victorious  capitalists,  who  owned  small  enterprises. 
Most  people  believed  that  in  such  a  competitive  system,  as  was 
then  established,  every  one  would  have  a  chance  to  rise  to  a 
superior  station  in  life.  The  instruments  of  production  were  not 
then  highly  developed.  Handicraft  in  the  operation  of  small 
machines,  or  in  the  use  of  tools,  still  predominated.  Small 
capital  only  was  required  in  starting  the  manufacture  of  things 
for  small  margins  of  profits. 

This  epoch,  beginning  with  the  revolution  of  the  **Third 
Estate"  in  France,  found  its  counterpart  in  the  revolution  of 
.  the  American  people  against  British  semi-feudalistic  rule.  Since 
then  the  forms,  methods  and  yield  of  production  have  rapidly 
developed  in  every  industrially  developed  country.  The  owner- 
ship of  the  means  of  production  have  been  centralized  ever 
more  into  fewer  and  fewer  hands.  With  the  centralization  of 
the  means  of  production  and  distribution,  the  agencies  protect- 
ing the  new  interests  in  power  also  grew  proportionately. 
Gradually  all  elements  that  obscured  the  line  of  cleavage,  be- 
tween the  producers  of  wealth  and  the  class  that  expropor- 
tionated  all  economic  resources  of  the  world,  are  eliminated. 

The  manufacturers  of  the  early  capitalist  era  were  found  only 
in  small  communities.  They  depended  upon  the  superiority  of 
the  embryonic  system  over  the  prevailing  handicraft  system,  and 
won  through  only  by  demonstrating  its  advantages.  Their  start 
was  circumscribed  and  handicapped  by  the  slow  and  cumber- 
some methods  of  transportation  of  that  early  day.  The  coming 

4 


of  steam  had  yet  to  knit  localities  closer  together,  and  to  reduce 
the  oceans  to  ponds. 

In  this  process  of  transformation  other  things  are  to  be  ob- 
served. Social  relations  are  shifting  with  the  change  in  forms 
of  the  ownership  of  the  means  of  production.  Social  strata  are 
fiercely  struggling  for  their  conservation,  in  vain.  There  is  no 
escape  from  the  Inevitable  and  irretrievable  result  of  these  rapid 
changes  in  the  industrial  possessions  and  arrangements. 

The  howls  of  reactionaries  and  the  frantic  appeals  and 
clamors  of  reformers  will  not  in  the  least  effect  the  course  of 
events..  The  destructive  battles  of  trade  unions,  divided  up  in 
factions  and  sections  that  find  their  traditional  base  in  the  middle 
ages,  will  not  turn  back  the  wheel  that  rolls  on  with  irresistible 
and  crushing  force. 

The  outcry,  so  often  heard  before,  redounds  in  vociferous 
strength  again :  "A  revolution !  A  revolution  is  needed  to  change 
these  conditions."  It  voices  the  recognition  of  an  imperative 
social  need.  The  middle  class  is  frantic  in  its  despairful  wailings. 
They  are  successful  in  lining  up  a  large  political  following  of 
workers.  Millions  are  made  to  believe  that  an  impending  strug- 
gle against  predatory  wealth  will  have  as  its  object  and  re- 
sult the  restoration  of  by-gone  conditions,  or  the  enforcement 
of  restrictive  measures  for  curbing  further  concentration  in  the 
control  of  industries. 

But  the  workers  are  not,  and  should  not  be  concerned  in 
the  hopeless  struggles  of  a  decaying  element  of  society.  They 
have  a  historic  mission  to  perform;  a  mission  that  they  will 
carry  out,  despite  the  allurements  held  out  to  them  that  a 
restoration  of  past  conditions  would  accrue  to  their  l^enefit. 

The  workers  are  beginning  to  realize  that  in  the  constructive 
work  for  the  future  they  have  to  learn  the  facts  of  past  evolu- 
tions and  revolutions.  And  from  these  facts,  expressed  in 
theories,  they  find  the  guide  for  the  course  that  they  have  to 
pursue  in  their  struggle  for  the  possession  of  the  earth,  and  the 
goods  that  they  alone  have  created.  That  growing  class  conscious 
portion  of  the  working  class  is  building  on  the  rockbed  of  his- 
toric facts,  and  the  structure  to  be  erected  follows  the  principle 
that: 

*Tt  is  the  historic  mission  of  the  working  class  to  do  away 
with  capitalism — ^the  army  of  production  must  be  organized. 
By  organizing  industrially  the  workers  are  forming  the  structure 
of  the  new  society  within  the  shell  of  the  old." 


5 


Some  definite  conclusions  must  be  dawn  from  the  previously 
established  premises.   It  is  the  heritage  of  the  working  class  to 
utilize  to  the  fullest  extent  the  great  achievements  of  the  pre- 
ceding and  existing  processes  and  methods  of  production,  f or  | 
the  benefits  of  all  useful  members  of  society.  | 

In  its  advent  to  power  and  supremacy  the  present  economic  I 
master  class  succeeded  another  that  had  decayed  i'n  the  process  | 
of  evolution.    This  mastery  of  the  present  owners  of  the  eco- 
nomic resources  also  only  paves  the  way  for  successors.    Such  I 
is  the  inexorable  law  of  evolution.  | 

The  workers,  conscious  of  their  mission,  must  recognize  the  | 
fact  that  the  industries  are  developing  to  the  highest  state  of  i 
perfection,  and  will  be  ready  for  operation  under  a  new  arrange- 
ment of  things,  that  is,  after  the  class  now  in  possession  and 
control  of  them  have  gone  the  way  of  decay,  under  the  pressure 
of  the  advancing  force  of  an  industrially  orgatiized  proletariat 
driving  toward  a  new  civilization. 

But  it  is  imperative  to  arrange  the  human  forces  of  pro- 
duction for  the  operation  of  the  vast  resources  and  implements 
of  production  under  a  system  wherei'n  products  will  be  made 
for  use  alone.  To  build  and  to  arrange  correctly,  and  for  last- 
ing purposes,  the  constructors  of  a  further  developed  industrial 
structure  must  possess  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  economic 
facts,  and  of  organizations  destined  to  accomplish  the  task. 
The  architects  must  know  the  proper  grouping  of  each  com- 
ponent part  and  cell  in  the  composition  of  industrial  com- 
binations, so  that,  when  harmony  in  the  industrial  relationship  i 
of  mankind  is  established,  it  will  be  reflected  in  the  harmonious 
social,  and  ethical  institutions  of  a  new  age. 

We  r^eat:  Industrial  and  social  systems  are  not  ready- 
made  products.  In  their  changes,  from  one  stage  to  another,  : 
they  derive  their  propelling  forces  from  the  achievements  and 
accomplishments  of  every  preceding  epoch.  In  its  onward  course 
to  a  further  advanced  system,  mankind  is  going  to  utilize  all  that  | 
present  day  society  has  evolved  and  constructed.  This  the  work- 
ers must  know,  and  then  they  will  also  learn  the  intricate,  inter- 
dependent arrangements  of  the  component  parts  of  the  whole 
industrial  system.  Equipped  with  this  knowledge,  they  will  be 
able  to  construct  and  form  their  own  industrial  org  mizations, 
the  frame  structure  of  the  new  society,  accordingly.  By  learn- 
ing the  social  relations  and  understanding  their  source,  th  3y  can 
profit  and  prepare  to  change  the  industrial  structure  of  ,o 'i.-ty, 
which,  as  a  matter  of  course,  will  determine  also  the  changes 

6 


in  the  social  character  of  the  system  which  is  bound  to  be  in- 
augurated. And  this  is  the  problem.  The  working  class,  as 
the  promoter  and  supporter  of  a  higher  standard  of  social  re- 
lations a'nd  interrelations,  must  be  equipped  with  the  knowledge, 
must  construct  the  organizations,  by  which  the  cause  of  social 
classes  can  be  removed.  Industrial  inequality  is  the  source  of 
every  other  inequality  in  human  society.  The  change  in  the 
ownership  of  the  essentials  of  life  will  bring  automatically, 
so  to  say,  the  cha'nge  in  the  intercourse  and  the  associations, 
and  also  in  the  institutions  for  the  promotion  of  these  things  be- 
tween the  human  beings  upon  the  globe. 

Good  will,  revolutionary  will  power,  determination,  courage, 
are  valuable  assets  in  the  struggle  for  the  change.   But  they  are, 
like  the  water  o'n  the  millwheels,  unconscious  of  the  great  serv- 
ice that  they  are  rendering.    To  convert  force  and  power  into 
useful  operation  requires  intelligence.    And  that  intelligence 
must  guide  us  to  use  the  accumulated  force  for  a  defined  pur- 
pose.  That  purpose,  as  it  seems  to  be  agreed,  is  to  form  a  new 
social,  or  rather  industrial  structure  within  the  shell  of  the  old 
society.    To  accomplish  this  the  advocates,  the  milita'nts  for 
the  new  society,  must  know  to  what  extent  the  present  factors 
in  industrial  development  have  organized  and  systematized  in- 
dustrial production.    When  this  is  fully  understood  it  will  ex- 
plain the  subsequent  domination  of  industrial  possession  over 
the  political,  social  and  other  agencies  in  present  day  and  pre- 
viously existing  societies. 

The  workers  of  the  world,  conscious  of  their  historic  mission, 
will  learn  to  avoid  the  mistakes  they  would  make  should  they 
depend  upon  other  forces  than  their  own  industrial  power  for 
the  solution  of  the  world's  problem.  Agencies  and  institutions 
deriving  their  lease  of  life  from  the  industrial  masters  of  today 
cannot  be  looked  to  for  support.  They  may  feign  being  i*n 
favor  of  radical  changes  in  the  effects.  They  will,  however, 
strenuously,  even  violently  oppose  any  attempt  at  destroying  the 
base,  or  the  cause.  They  will  strive  to  perpetuate  the  wages 
system  at  all  costs. 

The  working  class  alone  is  interested  in  the  removal  of  in- 
dustrial inequality,  and  that  can  only  be  accomplished  by  a 
revolution  of  the  industrial  system.  The  workers,  in  their 
collectivity,  must  take  over  and  operate  all  the  esse'ntial  indus- 
trial institutions,  the  means  of  production  and  disribution,  for 
the  well-being  of  all  the  human  elements  comprising  the  inter- 
national wealth  producers. 

7 


No  destruction,  no  waste,  no  return  into  barbarism !  A  higher 
plane  for  civilization  is  to  be  achieved.    When  the  workers 
understand  how  the  industrial  system  of  today  has  developed, 
how  one  industrial  calling  dovetails  into  another,  and  all  com- 
prise an  inseparable  whole,  they  will  not  wantonly  destroy  what  j 
generations  of  industrial  and  social  forces  have  brought  forth.  | 
The  workers  will  utilize  the  knowledge  of  ages  to  build  on  a 
solid  rockbed  the  foundation  of  a  new  industrial  and  social  ^ 
system. 

The  foundation  must  be  firm  a'nd  solid.  The  revolutionary 
climax,  after  an  incessant  course  of  evolutionary  processes  by  j 
which  forms  and  methods  undergo  changes,  will  eliminate  for-  1 
ever  the  cause  for  the  industrial  division  of  society  into  two 
hostile  camps.  Harmonious  relations  of  ma'nkind  in  all  their 
material  affairs  will  evolve  out  of  the  change  in  the  control  and 
ownership  in  the  industrial  resources  of  the  world. 

That  accomplished,  the  men  and  women,  all  members  of  so- 
ciety in  equal  enjoyment  of  all  the  good  thi'ngs  and  comforts  of 
life,  will  be  the  arbiters  of  their  own  destinies  in  a  free  society. 

We  present,  with  this  introduction,  to  all  our  fellow  workers 
in  battle  and  strife,  a  portrait  of  industrial  combinations. 

ANALYSIS  OF  THE  ARRANGEMENT  OF  INDUSTRIES 
The  Chart  Expained  in  Detail 

The  main  purpose  of  this  chart  is  to  show  how  the  industries 
are  grouped  together  in  the  existing  arrangement  under  the 
capitalist  system  of  production. 

Production  begins  with  the  application  of  human  labor  to 
the  natural  resources  of  the  earth.  This  labor  is  applied  to 
extract  material  for  human  use  which  nature  generates,  or  has 
stored  up. 

Modern  production  involves  and  includes  all  classifications 
of  labor  in  the  present  complex  system.  Transportation  is  a 
productive  function  as  well  as  agriculture,  manufacturing  and 
mining.  These,  with  other  industries,  constitute  the  system  by 
which  wealth  is  produced  and  the  resources  of  the  earth  are 
made  available  to  mankind. 

Each  and  every  one  of  the  activities  of  mankind,  in  their 
present  stages,  are  necessary  one  to  the  others  in  order  that  the 
present  social  standard  be  maintained,  and  further  progress  be 
possible. 

8 


All  of  the  products  in  the  modern  world  can  be  reduced  to 
terms  of  food,  clothing,  shelter  and  culture.  All  the  productive 
processes  are  interlinked  and  interdependent.  The  kinship  of 
labor,  no  matter  where  or  how  employed,  is  established,  and  its 
social  importance  is  made  evident.  The  industries  constitute  the 
foundation  upon  which  the  structure  of  modern  civilization  is 
upreared.  But  the  industries  depend  upon  the  workers  who 
function  in  them.  Material  passes  from  hand  to  hand,  from  group 
to  group,  and  all  along  the  way  finished  products,  of  one  kind 
and  another,  are  made  available  for  human  use,  until  every  want 
a*nd  need  of  modern  man  is  supplied. 

The  industrial  arrangement  is  not  a  haphazard,  happy-go- 
lucky  one,  but  an  ordered,  systematized,  harmonious  human 
mechanism  in  which  mechanical  factors  really  play  only  a 
subordinate  role.  The  laborer  is  the  indispensable  factor.  Part 
fits  to  part,  section  to  section,  industry  to  industry  and  depart- 
ment to  department,  until  there  results  a  world-covering,  co- 
ordinated, wealth  producing  system  which  depends  upon  the 
workers  of  the  world. 

These  workers  are  organized  by  the  capitalist  class  and  made 
to  function  for  the  benefit  of  that  class.  The  workers  ought  to, 
must  and  will,  organize  themselves  as  they  are  arranged  in  the 
industries,  so  that  they  will  be  enabled  to  function  in  their  own 
interest  and  for  their  own  benefit. 

The  chart  is  only  intended  to  approximate  the  outlines  of 
those  differentiations  which  we  term  industries — steel,  coal,  oil, 
textiles,  transportation,  etc.— whose  boundaries  are  not  rigidly 
set,  and  are  consequently  more  or  less  indeterminate. 

It  may  happen  that  in  this  rough  sketch  important  distinc- 
tions may  appear  to  have  been  overlooked  while  in  other  instances 
there  may  seem  to  be  an  over-emphasis.  But  the  chart  is,  at  best, 
only  intended  to  approximate.  There  is  no  pretention  that  it  is 
exact  and  precise.  It  is  a  guide  to  rather  than  a  blue^print  of 
the  capitalist  industrial  arrangement.  Changes  are  constantly 
occuring  and  new  alignments  follow  as  a  result.  The  intention 
of  the  I.  W.  W.  is  to  make  corresponding  changes  in  its  own 
structure  and  methods,  which  will  enable  the  workers  to  use  it 
for  emergencies  when  they  arise,  and  to  provide  an  effective  in- 
strument for  their  use  at  all  times. 

In  presenting  this  plan  of  organization  of  industries  we  have 
in  mind  only  the  object  before  explained.  The  workers,  forced 
by  capitaist  ownership  of  the  means  of  production  must  organize 
themselves  in  all  the  industries  in  their  proper  places.  Their 


places  in  industry  will  determine  their  places  in  the  working 
class  economic  organization. 

Every  worker  who  studies  this  chart  will  find  where  he  will 
fit  in  when  the  industries  are  organized  for  control  by  the 
workers  through  industrial  organization.  ^  Of  course,  it  is  the 
ultimate  purpose  of  this  arrangement  that  each  worker  shall 
have  equal  rights,  and  equal  duties  also,  with  all  others  in  the 
management  and  operation  of  the  industry  in  which  he  or  she 
serves  in  the  process  of  production. 

Another  and  equally  important  purpose  is  to'  organize  the 
workers  in  such  a  way  that  all  the  members  of  the  organization 
in  any  o'ne  industry,  or  in  all  industries  if  necessary,  cease  work 
whenever  a  strike  or  lockout  is  on  in  any  part  thereof,  thus 
making  an  injury  to  one  and  injury  to  all. 

This  can  only  be  accomplished  when  the  workers  orga'nize 
by  industries  along  class  lines.  That  is  to  say,  all  the  workers 
in  any  one  industry  must  be  members  of  one  and  the  same  or- 
ganization— "no  division  along  craft  lines.  The  capitalist  institu- 
tions are  organized  today  in  this  manner.  The  industries  as  they 
are  grouped  today,  dovetailing  into  each  other,  furnish  to  the 
workers  the  basis  upon  which  they  must  construct  their  organiza- 
tion for  the  struggles  of  today  for  better  living  conditions;  and 
for  the  supervision,  the  management  and  operation  of  industries 
in  a  future  industrial  commonwealth  of  workers  and  producers. 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  PRODUCTS  IS  PART  OF  PRODUCTION 

All  natural  resources  of  the  soil,  mines  and  water  receive 
their  first  value  when  labor  is  applied  to  win  useful  things  from 
them.  ,        \  I  j 

But  all  these  products  have  more  social  value  when  they  are 
transported  to  other  places  for  the  purposes  of  manufacture  and 
commerce ;  where  they  are  transformed  and  converted  into  many 
commodities  for  exchange. 

The  life  of  human  beings  will  not  consist  only  of  common 
drudgery  when  all  the  good  things  created  by  the  workers  are 
available  to  them. 

For  all  purposes,  present  and  future,  the  functions  of  the 
public  service  institutions  have  to  be  defined  industrially  and 
the  people  engaged  i'n  their  maintenance  must  be  given  a  place 
in  the  industrial  organization,  the  same  as  those  who  take  care 
of  the  sick  and  disabled.  Those  who  render  social  service  are 
usefully  engaged,  altho  most  of  the  institutions  in  which  they 

10 


serve  today  are  prostituted  for  the  protection  of  capitalist  in- 
terests. 

For  all  functions  combined,  the  Industries  are  arranged  on  the 
general  plan  presented  in  the  chart,  as  follows: 

1.  The  Department  of  Agriculture,  Land,  Fisheries  a'nd 
Water  Products. 

2.  The  Department  of  Mining. 

3.  The  Department  of  Construction, 

4.  The  Department  of  Manufacture  and  General  Produc- 
tion. 

5.  The  Department  of  Transportation  and  Communication. 

6.  The  Department  of  Public  Service. 

These  departments  again  have  their  subdivisions.  As  it  is 
proposed  that  the  workers  organize  in  accordance  with  the  in- 
dustries in  which  they  are  serviceably  engaged,  it  is  essential 
that  a  general  term  shall  apply. 

The  term  Industrial  Union  is  therefore  applied  to  those  call- 
ings where  the  labor  of  the  workers  is  expended  upon  the  same 
or  similar  basic  raw  material;  or  where  the  products  may  be 
included  under  a  general  designation,  as,  for  instance,  "metal 
goods,*'  "food  products,''  etc. 

But  within  these  general  classifications  there  are  working 
groups  whose  industrial  contacts  are  more  intimate,  and  whose 
problems  are  consequently  more  special  to  them  than  to  other 
workers  in  the  same  industrial  union.  For  example,  in  I.  U.  No. 
440  the  workers  in  a  steel  plant  have  everyday  problems  which 
are  different  in  their  special  phases  and  aspects  than  those  of 
workers  i'n  a  jewelry  factory;  those  in  a  locomotive  works  have 
questions  to  deal  with  that  never  occur  in  a  plant  where  watches 
are  produced.  Or  again  the  packing  house  worker  and  the  cigar 
or  cigarette  worker,  have  different  everyday  problems. 

In  fact  it  may  be  pointed  out  that  under  the  general  classi- 
fications there  are  included  many  callings  wherein  the  special 
needs  of  the  workers  demand  an  organization  arrangement 
whereby  they  may  readily  and  effectively  use  their  organized 
power  in  their  own  behalf.  An  organization  must  afford  ready 
expression  to  the  workers  who  compose  it.  There  the  industrial 
unions  are  arranged  by  Sections.  Thus  we  have  Steel  Workers 
Section;  I.  U.  No.  440;  Packinghouse  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No. 
460;  Etc. 

The  Sections  include  all  workers  of  every  labor  classification 


11 


necessary  for  the  production  of  any  commodity  or  commodities, 
or  for  the  rendering  of  any  service.  This  system  of  organization 
e'nables  the  workers  in  recognized  industrial  groups  to  advance 
their  interests,  and  assures  them,  through  the  general  organiza- 
tion, sufficient  industrial  support  to  enable  them  to  do  so. 

Each  Section  comprises,  as  stated,  all  workers  necessary  to  a 
product  or  products,  but  will  not  separate  or  divide  them.  It  is 
not  division  but  co-ordination  that  results  wheti  this  arrangement 
is  followed. 

It  is  impossible,  at  this  stage,  to  eliminate  entirely  the  terms 
now  used  to  designate  certain  functions  which  different  sets  of 
workers  perform  in  each  industry.  But  it  must  be  distinctly  un- 
derstood that  this  is  not  meant  to  imply  that  these  groups  will 
organize,  as  has  been  the  case  heretofore,  in  craft  organiza- 
tions within  the  industries,  or  according  to  the  tools  that  each 
set  of  workers  uses.  That  would  mean  the  maintenance  of  craft 
division  under  another  name.  A  worker  in  an  industry  will  be 
assigned  to  the  Sectio'n  representing  the  product  or  products  of 
that  Section  in  the  industry.  The  Industrial  Union  includes  all 
Sections  and  welds  them  into  a  unified,  cohesive,  co-ordinated 
industrial  force. 

When  the  several  classifications  of  workers  engaged  in  a 
particular  industrial  production  organize  industrially  all  are 
subject  to  the  rules  governing  the  affairs  of  that  industry.  But 
certain  fundamental  rules  and  principles  governing  the  "0*ne 
Big  Union  of  Workers''  cannot  be  infringed  upon  by  any  of  its 
component  parts  without  doing  injury  to  the  whole  organic  body. 

Still  another  point  to  be  made  clear:  The  process  of  produc- 
tion does  not  cease  until  the  finished  product  reaches  the  con- 
sumer. All  workers  engaged  in  the  process  of  distribution  of 
any  certain  product  are  members  of  the  same  Section  of  the  In- 
dustrial Union  in  which  the  makers  of  the  commodity  are  or- 
ganized. 

Of  course,  the  railroad  and  water-transportation  will  be 
in  the  Transportation  Department,  although  it  might  be  said 
that  they  also  are  engaged  in  the  process  of  distribution.  But 
here  is  the  difference:  railroad  and  marine  transportation  con- 
nects localities  and  countries  without  regard  to  particular  pro- 
ducts. Their  function  is  general  distribution,  and  is  essentially 
of  a  social  character.  But  those  workers  who  are  engaged  in 
transporting  particular  products  from  their  places  of  com- 
pletion to  the  consumers,  are  part  and  parcel  of  the  working 

12 


force,  and  are  included  with  the  workers  organized  in  that  Sec- 
tion of  a  given  industrial  union. 

But  in  municipal  and  interurban  transportation  there  are 
workers  engaged  in  conveying  goods,  who  have  no  established 
connection  with  any  particular  product  or  set  of  products.  These 
come  under  the  head  of  transport  workers.  For  instance,  a  sales- 
man or  clerk  in  a  shoe  store  would  be  a  member  of  the  industrial 
union  section  in  which  all  workers  engaged  in  the  shoe  industry 
are  organized.  A  teamster  delivering  meats,  or  other  goods  from 
a  grocery  would  be  in  the  organization  in  which  all  the  food- 
stuff workers  of  that  particular  branch  are  organized.  But  a 
truck  driver,  whoi  may  haul  a  shipment  containing  mixed  pro- 
ducts from  one  depot  to  another  and  between  times  hauls  general 
merchandise,  performs  the  work  of  a  transport  worker,  and  as 
such  organizes  under  that  head. 

With  these  necessary  explanations,  suggestive  of  a  better 
understanding  of  the.  plan  of  organization,  one  will  be  able  to 
see  far  better  how  and  why  industries  are  grouped  on  the  ac- 
companying chart. 

I. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE,  LAND,  FISHERIES  AND 
WATER  PRODUCTS,  100 

Agricultural  Workers  Industrial  Union,  No.  110 

All  workers  on  farms,  irrigation  work,  cotton,  and  sugar 
plantations  or  engaged  in  the  raising  of  cattle,  live  stock  etc.; 
on  fowl  and  bird  farms;  on  dairy  farms;  fruit  orchards,  etc. 

Lumber  Workers  Industrial  Union,  No.  120 

All  workers  in 'forests — lumber  cruisers,  rangers,  foresters, 
etc.;  all  workers  engaged  in  logging  operations,  in  saw  and 
shingle  mills,  and  in  preparing  wood  for  fuel  and  manufactur- 
ing purposes;  collectors  of  sap,  bark,  etc. 

Fishery  Workers  Industrial  Union,  No.  130 

All  workers  in  fisheries  and  fishing  pursuits  on  oceans,  lakes 
and  rivers;  oyster  and  clam-bed  keepers.  Workers  engaged  in 
the  collecting  of  pearls,  corals  and  sponges.  Workers  in  fish 
hatcheries,  divers,  etc. 

Floral  Workers  Industrial  Union,  No.  140 

All  workers  engaged  in  the  cultivation  of  garden  and  land 
tracts  devoted  to  the  raising  of  flowers,  etc. ;  and  all  workers 
engaged  in  the  distribution  of  floral  products. 

13 


DEPARTMENT  OF  MINING  AND  MINERALS,  No.  200 


Metal  Mine  Workers  Industrial  Union,  No.  210 

All  workers  engaged  in  the  mining  of  gold,  silver,  copper, 
lead,  zinc,  tin,  platinum,  iron,  etc.,  etc.;  in  mills,  smelters,  re- 
fineries and  other  reduction  works.  For  the  present  this  division 
also  includes  quarry  workers  and  such  as  are  engaged  iu  the 
mining  of  salt,  sulphur,  clay,  borax,  mica,  bromide,  graphite, 
hoda,  gypsum,  asphalt,  limestone,  sandstone,  whetstone,  marble, 
onyx,  slates,  building  stone,  granite,  etc.  All  precious  gems, 
salines,  salt,  and  soda  dry  works,  etc. 

Coal  Mines  Workers  Industrial  Union,  No.  220 

All  workers  engaged  in  coal  mining,  lignite,  anthracite,  bi- 
tuminous, etc. ;  in  the  production  of  coke,  briquettes,  peat  and 
turf,  and  in  the  distribution  of  these  products. 

Oil  Workers  Industrial  Union,  No.  230 

All  workers  engaged  in  the  production  of  oilr  workers  oH 
oil  and  gas  wells;  pipe  lines,  refineries,  filters,  etc. — and  in  the 
distribution  of  these  products. 

...  DEPARTMENT  OF  GENERAL  CONSTRUCTION,  No.  310 

Railroad,  Road  and  Tunnel  Construction  Workers  Industrial 

Union,  No.  310 

All  workers  engaged  in  the  construction  of  docks,  railroads, 
highways,  levees,  streets,  bridges,  sewers,  subways,  tunnels, 
canals,  viaducts,  irrigation  ditches,  etc. 

Shipbuilding  Workers  Industrial  Union,  No.  320 

All  workers  engaged  in  the  building  of  ships  and  steamers, 
boats,  and  launches;  and  in  the  repairing  of  them. 

Building  Construction  Workers'  Industrial  Union  No.  330 

All  workers  engaged  in  erecting  and  constructing  houses  and 
buildings,  and  the  delivery  of  building  materials;  plumbers, 
steam  and  sprinkler  fitters,  architects,  excavators,  stone  masons, 
bricklayers,  hod  carriers,  electricians,  painters,  iron  and  con- 
crete workers,  etc. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  MANUFACTURE  AND  GENERAL 
PRODUCTION,  No.  400 

NOTE: — If  this  Department  be  subdivided  in  industrial 
unions  only  there  would  have  been  no  provision  made  for  work- 
ers in  the  various  industrial  sections,  who,  while  included  in  the 

14 


Industrial  Union,  still  have  problems  peculiar  to  their  own  activi- 
ties, and  require  an  arrangement  which  will  enable  them  to 
meet  and  deal  with  these  problems  as  they  arise.  The  industrial 
unions  in  this  Department  include  so  many  diversified  callings 
that  u'nless  the  various,  well-defined  groups  are  equipped  with 
organization  groupings  which  will  easily  and  readily  enable 
them  to  find  industrial  expression  they  will  be  loth  to  organize. 
Organization  of  the  working  class  must  necessarily  reflect  the 
capitalist  arrangeme'nt  in  industry.  It  must  not  lag  behind,  nor 
should  it  anticipate.  In  doing  either  it  would  forfeit  its  claim 
to  being  scientific. 

Therefore,  by  sectionalizing  these  industrial  unions  we  are 
enabled  to  arrange  the  workers  upon  each  kind  of  raw  material 
until  it  has  been  converted  into  a  finished  product  and  ready 
for  use,  whether  these  products  be  food,  clothing  or  instruments 
of  production.  The  several  sections  of  a'ny  given  industrial 
union  are  thus  put  in  the  position  where  the  workers  can  accom- 
plish the  maximum  of  benefit  for  themselves,  and  are  qualified 
to  render  greatest  support  to  their  associated  sections  in  the 
industrial  union  and  to  any  other  set  (or  sets)  of  workers  as 
well. 


TEXTILE  WORKERS'  INDUSTRIAL  UNION  No.  410 

A.  Fabric  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  410 

All  workers  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  silk,  linen, 
cotton,  wool  and  worsted  fabrics,  mule-spinners,  loom-fixers, 
weavers,  warpers,  carders,  sorters,  office  workers,  etc.  All  work- 
ers i'n  dye-houses,  including  chemists,  inspectors;  also  all  work- 
ers employed  in  the  making  of  knitted  wear,  passementerie  work- 
ers, wood  silk  workers,  etc. 

B.  Clothing  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No  410 

All  workers  employed  in  the  making  of  garments  of  silk, 
artificial  silk,  linen,  cotton,  and  woolen  fabrics,  such  as  clothi'ng 
workers,  shirt  and  collar  workers,  dress  and  cloak  makers,  etc. ; 
also  all  salesmen,  clerks,  stenogaphers  in  these  establishments 
and  the  places  of  distribution. 

C.    Fur,  Felt,  and  Straw  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  410 

All  workers  employed  in  establishments  where  wearing  ap- 
parel is  made  of  fur,  felt,  straw — furriers,  glove  makers,  hat 
makers,  straw  hat  makers;  milinery  workers,  etc. 

15 


WOOD  WORKERS'  INDUSTRIAL  UNION  No.  420 


A.    Furniture  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  420 

All  workers  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  furniture  and 
office  equipment,  including  salesmen,  office  workers  and  distri- 
butors. 

B.    Piano  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  420 

All  workers  engaged  in  the  production  of  pianos,  player 
pianos,  graphophones,  etc.,  case  makers.  Inspectors,  tuners,  pol- 
ishers, movers,  salesmen,  office  workers,  etc. 

C.    Planing  Mill  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  420 

All  workers  in  and  around  planing  mills,  molding  factories, 
cabinet  shops,  picture  frame  factories,  etc. 

CHEMICAL  WORKERS'  INDUSTRIAL  UNION  No.  430 

A.    Drug,  Medicine  and  Perfume  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  430 

All  workers  engaged  in  the  manufacture  a'nd  distribution  of 
drugs,  medicines,  perfumes  and  kindred  products. 

B.    Rubber  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  430 

All  workers  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  rubber  goods  of 
every  kind  and  description,  such  as  auto  tires,  rubber  boots, 
bands,  etc.,  and  in  the  distribution  of  these  products. 

C.    Explosive  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  430 

All  workers  engaged  in  the  production  and  distribution  of 
powder,  dynamite,  gelignite  and  other  explosives. 

D.    Paper  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  430 

All  workers  engaged  in  the  production  of  paper  a'nd  paper 
products  for  printing  and  commercial  purposes. 

METAL  AND  MACHINERY  WORKERS'  INDUSTRIAL 
UNION  No.  440 

All  workers  employed  on  metal  products  such  as:  Bench 
hands,  core  makers,  machinists,  polishers,  floor  men,  spinners, 
moulders,  rollers,  helpers,  milling  machine  hands,  punch  press 
operators,  drill  press  hands,  lathe  hands,  office  help,  assemblers, 
inspectors,  truckers,  chippers,  testers,  draftsmen,  hammermen, 
electric  welders,  specialists,  blacksmiths,  goldsmiths,  silver- 
smiths, laborers,  etc.,  which  are  common  to  all,  or  nearly  all 
sections. 

16 


A.    Steel  Workers*  Section;  I.  U.  No.  440 

All  workers  in  and  around  blast  furnaces,  steel  mills,  rolling 
mills,  tin-plate  mills  and  all  steel  by-products,  etc. 

B.    Engine  and  Machinery  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  440 

All  workers  engaged  in  the  production  of  locomotives,  (steam 
a'nd  electric)  railway  cars  and  equipment,  stationary  engines, 
steam  shovels,  machinery,  machine  tools,  cranes,  etc. 

C.    Automobile,  Aircraft  and  Vehicle  Workers'  Section ; 

I.  U.  No.  440 

All  workers  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  automobiles, 
trucks,  tractors,  motorcycles,  bicycles,  airplanes,  vehicles  of 
all  kinds  and  all  accessories  and  equipment. 

D.    General  Metal  Product  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  440 

All  workers  employed  in  making  general  metal  products; 
watch  and  jewelry  factories,  and  in  the  manufacture  of  in- 
struments, utensils,  gold  and  silver  products,  etc. 

PRINTING  AND  PUBLISHING  WORKERS'  INDUSTRIAL 
V     UNION  No.  450 

A.    Newspaper  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  450 

All  workers  on  newspapers  and  periodicals:  Compositors, 
linotypers,  pressmen,  cartoonists,  photographers,  proofreaders, 
office  workers,  reporters,  writers,  engineers,  firemen,  electricians, 
janitors,  delivery  men,  etc. 

B.    Book  and  Catalogue  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  450 

All  workers  employed  in  publishing  houses,  other  than  news- 
paper establishments. 

FOODSTUFF  WORKERS'  INDUSTRIAL  UNION  No.  460 

A.    Packinghouse  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  460 

This  section  comprises  all  workers  employed  in  meat  pack- 
ing establishments,  including  all  the  workers  in  every  depart- 
ment; dairy  and  milk  depot  workers  and  deliverers;  all  workers 
in  fish-packing  places,  etc. 

B.    Flour,  Cereal  and  Bakery  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  460 

All  workers  in  flour  and  cereal  mills,  bakeries,  biscuit  fac- 
tories, candy  and  confectionery  establishments,  sugar  refi'neries, 
fruit  packing  and  canning  plants.    This  section,  like  all  others, 

17 


includes  engineers,  firemen,  milkers,  truckers,  bakers,  deliverers, 
mechanics,  clerks,  coopers,  etc. 

C.  Beverage  Workers*  Section;  I.  U.  No.  460 

All  workers  employed  in  distilleries,  breweries,  malthouses, 
vinegar,  cider  and  ginger  factories ;  all  workers  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  sodas,  soft  fermented  drinks,  and  distribution 
of  these  products. 

D.  Tobacco  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  460 

All  workers  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  tobacco  prod- 
ucts: Cigarmakers,  stogie  makers,  cigarette  makers  and  all 
other  workers  in  tobacco  factories  including  clerks  in  tobacco 
retail  establishments,  distributors,  etc. 

E.    Hotel  and  Restaurant  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  460 

All  workers  employed  in  hotels,  restaurants,  cafeterias, 
boarding  houses,  lunch  rooms,  domestic  service,  etc. — cooks, 
waiters,  housemen,  pantrymen,  dishwashers,  clerks,  maids,  por- 
ters, janitors,  etc.;  chauffeurs  and  baggage  haulers,  when  em- 
ployed in  hotel  service  exclusively. 

LEATHER  WORKERS'  INDUSTRIAL  UNION  No.  470 

A.    Tannery  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  470 

All  workers  employed  in  tanneries,  etc. 

B.  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  470 

All  workers  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  boots,  shoes, 
slippers  and  leather  footwear. 

C.  Trunk  and  Bag  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  470 

All  workers  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  trunks,  bags, 
cases,  salesmen's  and  travellers'  leather  supplies,  including,  of 
course,  clerks,  teamsters,  chauffeurs,  engineers,  and  all  other 
workers. 

D.    Harness  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  470 

All  workers  engaged  in  harness  making  establishments,  belt 
m.akers,  etc. 

GLASS  AND  POTTERY  WORKERS'  INDUSTRIAL 
UNION  No.  480 

A.    Glass  Workers'  Section;  I.  U.  No.  480 

All  workers  employed  in  the  making  of  glasswares — flint 
glass,  green  glass,  window  glass  and  plate  glass, — furnace  men, 

18 


mixers,  blowers,  gatherers,  cappers,  snappers,  flattetiers,  polish- 
ers, and  all  other  workers  in  glass  making  establishments. 

B.    Pottery  Workers'  Section;  1.  U.  No.  480 

All  workers  in  potteries,  porcelain  factories,  chinaware  fac- 
tories, and  including  designers,  decorators,  office  workers,  clerks, 
salesmen,  teamsters,  chauffeurs,  etc. 

C.    Tile  and  Brick  Workers'  Section;  1.  U.  No.  480 

All  wokers  in  and  around  brick  yards,  tile  and  terra  cotta 
works,  cement  plants,  etc. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  TRANSPORTATION  AND  COM- 
MUNICATION,  500 

Marine  Transport  Workers'  L  U.  No.  510 

All  workers  engaged  in  marine  tra'nsportation,  steam,  motor, 
sailing  ships,  submarines,  etc.;  docks,  wharves;  longshoremen, 
clerks ;  all  workers  in  this  industry. 

Railroad  Workers'  L  U.  No.  520 

All  workers  engaged  in  long  distance  railways,  steam  and 
electric ;  third  rail  a'nd  trolley,  in  freight  and  passenger  service ; 
locomotive  car  and  repair  shops;  passenger  and  freight  yard 
service;  car  cleaning,  freight  sheds;  passenger  stations  and  office 
forces,  etc. 

Telegraph  and  Telephone  Workers'  I.  U.  No.  530 

All  workers  engaged  in  postal  telegraph,  telephone,  wire- 
less, etc.   All  workers  in  this  Industry. 

Municipal  Transportation  Workers'  I.  U.  No.  540 

All  workers  engaged  in  municipal,  short  distance  transporta- 
tion service ;  street  cars,  elevated  roads,  subways,  sidewalks,  etc. 

Aerial  Navigation  Workers'  I.  U.  No.  550 

All  workers  employed  in  aerial  navigation. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  PUBLIC  SERVICE,  600 

Health  and  Sanitation  Workers'  1.  U.  No.  610 

All  workers  engaged  in  hospitals  and  health  restoration  ser- 
vices; physicians,  surgeons,  internes,  nurses,  attendants,  clerks, 
janitors,  etc. 

Park  and  Highway  Maintenance  Workers'  I.  U.  No.  620 

All  workers  engaged  in  street  cleaning  in  parks  and  on  street 
crossings. 

19 


Educational  Workers'  I.  U.  No.  630 

All  workers  in  educational  institutio'ns,  schools,  colleges,  uni- 
versities and  other  institutions  of  learning. 

General  Distribution  Workers'  I.  U.  No.  640 

All  workers  engaged  in  general  distribution,  departmetit 
stores;  packers,  drivers,  clerks,  salesmen,  etc. 

Public  Utility  Workers'  I.  U.  No.  650 

All  workers  engaged  in  municipal,  water  and  electric  sup- 
ply service ;  waterworks,  public  service  works,  etc. 

Amusement  Workers'  I.  U.  No  660 

All  workers  in  theaters,  playhouses  and  motion  pictures; 
and  other  places  of  amuseme'nt  and  recreation. 


CONCLUSION 

When  now  and  then  advocates  of  a  better  system  of  society 
refer  to  the  new  unionism  they  do  it,  in  most  cases,  without 
knowing  fully  the  distinction  between  the  old  kind  of  unionism 
and  the  unionism  that  advocates — One  Big  Industrial  Union  for 
the  Entire  Working  Class  the  World  Over.  But,  even  if  the 
critics  of  this  plan  of  action  disagree  with  this  booklet  as  to  the 
means  to  attain  the  desired  end,  they  can  no  longer  plead  that 
there  never  has  been  any  literature  presented  in  which  the 
program  of  the  industrial  unionists  has  been  enunciated. 

Organize  industrially!  Organize  right!  This  is  the  call 
to  the  downtrodden,  heard  all  over  the  world.  In  increasing 
numbers  the  proletariat  of  every  country  is  enlightening  itself 
on  the  subject,  and  everywhere  workers  are  preparing  for  organ- 
izations in  which  they  will  find  the  embodiment  of  their  collective 
power  and  the  instrument  for  direct  economic  action,  just  as  oc- 
casion and  conditions  may  command.  All  countries  of  the  world 
are  governed  only  in  the  interests  of  the  small  class  controlling 
industrial  combinations.  Whenever  the  workers  aimed  heavy 
blows  at  these  interests  directly,  that  is,  when  they  refused  to 
serve,  temporarily,  in  the  production  pocess  of  these  industries 
the  exploiting  class  all  over  the  world  burst  out  in  frantic 
denunciations  of  the  forces  that  had  so  little  regard  for  capitalist 
property. 

The  industrial  unionists  propose  to  organize  the  workers  for 
more  militant  action  within  present-day  society,  so  that  with 

20 


every  advance  gained,  the  workers  will  gain  an  appetite  for 
more  a'nd  for  all,  and  will  find  the  means  to  get  it. 

And  in  all  these  days  of  unrest  and  struggle  the  industrialists 
are  preparing  the  administrative  agencies  for  the  industrial  com- 
monwealth. Industrial  representatives  elected  by  the  workers, 
organized  in  their  industrial  unio'ns,  will  constitute  the  industrial 
management  of  the  future,  the  workers'  control  in  municipal, 
national  and  international  affairs. 


STUDY  THE  CHART 

Observe  how  commercialism — the  main  factor  i'n  the  develop- 
ment of  the  capitalist  system  of  production— encircles  the  whole 
globe,  with  the  means  and  tributaries  at  its  service: 

Transportation  facilities  as  the  messengers  for  the  exchange 
of  products  between  countries  and  continents  know  no  boundary 
lines — land,  water  and  air  have  been  conquered  and  rendered 
servants  of  the  monstrous  forces  behind  the  prevailing  industrial, 
system  of  production  and  exchange. 

Industrial  development  has  no  regard  for  boundary  lines  be- 
tween political  territories. 

National  dividing  lines  disappear  before  the  invi'ncible  force 
of  the  industrial  conquerer. 

Continents  so  long  separated  by  landmarks  and  obstacles  of 
natural  origin  are  linked  and  joi'ned  together  by  the  gigantic 
welding  power  of  the  international  transportation  and  com- 
munication of  modern  times. 

But  the  functions  of  that  agent  of  the  present  social  system 
are  still  today  confined  to  the  service  of  profit-production  for 
a  few. 

What  still  remains  in  the  minds  of  mankind,  as  a  force 
for  separate  nationalities,  is  merely  imaginary. 

A  heavy  load  of  traditional  falsehoods,  holding  living  human 
beings  in  a  bo'ndage  of  ignominious,  deep-rooted  and  ingeniously 
fostered  intellectual  enslavement — and  hence  also  in  industrial 
serfdom  must  disappear;  national  separation  must  be  swept 
aside  by  the  advancing  forces  of  internatio'nal  co-operation  be- 
f-ore  the  highest  and  most  marvelous  stages  of  industrial  develop- 
ment, social  progress  and  perfection  in  the  utilization  of  all  ele- 
ments subservient  to  the  creative  powers  of  mankind  can  be 
achieved  atid  a  higher  order  of  civilization  be  established. 


21 


ANOTHER  INTERNATIONAL  LINK 


Observe  also  how  a  second  force  binds  the  world's  component 
parts  into  one  inseparable  whole.  Science  and  scientific  research 
and  discoveries  are  the  international  agencies  by  which  the 
riddles  and  miracles  of  the  uliiverse  in  all  their  variations  and 
magnitude  are  being  solved  and  explained.  Institutions  of  learn- 
ing, schools  and  universities  are  linked  together  by  the  uni- 
formity of  fundame'ntal  laws  governing  science  and  the  dissemi- 
nation of  knowledge  and  discoveries. 

Likewise  are  evils  and  afflictions,  springing  from  the  same 
common  sources,  suffered  alike  by  human  beings  throughout  the 
world.  Remedies  and  means  of  prevention  must,  co'nsequently, 
assume  the  character  of  international  agencies,  deriving  their 
support  from  the  necessity  of  eliminating  and  curing  these  evils, 
and  of  removing  the  cause  for  their  existetice. 

Hospitals  as  curing  stations;  cleaning,  sanitary  and  protective 
agencies  as  institutions  for  prevention;  the  supply  stations  of 
water,  light  and  other  means  of  public  "need  are  therefore  joined 
together  with  the  institutions  of  learning,  and  with  the  agencies 
for  recreation  and  amusement,  into  one  great  chain  of  inter- 
national interdependence,  and  are  formed  and  maintained  in 
the  pursuit  of  functions,  preventative  as  well  as  beneficial,  as  the 
promoters  and  protectors  of  social  interests  and  universal  weal. 

FOUR  CARDINAL  FUNCTIONS 

Observe,  then,  how  in  the  complex  process  of  production  of 
the  necessities  of  life  four  cardinal  functions  comprise  the  inter- 
locking chain  of  industrial  activity,  through  which  the  resources 
of  the  earth  must  run  before  their  ultimate  use. 

A.  — From  the  soil,  the  woods  and  waters  all  material  re- 
quired for  producing  purposes  is  secured  by  the  labor  of  the  mil- 
lions serving  in  the  social  process  in  raising  and  procuring  the 
raw  products  for  food,  raiment  and  shelter. 

B.  — From  the  bowels  and  the  treasures  of  the  earth  labor 
puts  out  the  material  for  fuel  and  the  essential  things  which, 
after  being  transformed,  comprise  the  implements  and  machin- 
ery of  production  and  distribution. 

C.  — With  the  matter  thus  furnished  production  proper  for  the 
providing  of  all  necessary  things  of  life  a:nd  comfort  is  carried 

22 


on  in  the  various,  but  interdependent  places  of  production,  mills 
and  factories. 

D. — With  all  these  things  combined  the  constructive  ha'nd  of 
labor  builds  the  houses  of  shelter  for  the  protection  of  human 
life  and  material  wealth  against  the  adversities  of  nature's  forces, 
and  harnesses  them  to  render  service  for  social  good. 


LABOR  THE  SOLE  PRODUCER 

To  all  of  the  making  and  development  of  these  social  institu- 
tions the  workers,  and  they  alone,  contribute  their  Intellectual 
and  their  manual  labor.  They  have  created  the  instruments  to 
produce  wealth  with,  impoved  them  as  time  rolled  by  and  used 
them  always  as  wealth  producers. 

These  institutions  are  now  organized  in  their  operative  func- 
tio'ns  to  yield  profits  for  a  few  who  never  did,  nor  ever  willingly 
shall  contribute  to  their  making  and  maintenance,  except  in  a 
manner  to  protect  them  in  the  possession  of  things  that  they  did 
not,  and  do  not  Intend  to  make  or  to  use. 

The  human  forces  rendering  these  instruments,  agencies  and 
implements  useful  to  all  society,  and  adding  value  to  matter 
and  the  forces  of  nature,  are  divorced  from  their  creations  by 
powerful  combinations  of  parasitic  nature,  by  which  a  few  con- 
trol all  industrial  life  through  the  means  that  they  have  organ- 
ized and  subjected  to  their  rulership.  Against  these  hostile 
powers  the  workers  must  organize  their  own  resources  and  their 
own  collective  power,  i'n  organizations  embracing  all  useful 
members  of  society  and  wealth  producers. 

THE  MISSION  OF  THE  WORKING  CLASS 

A  labor  organization  to  correctly  represent  the  working  class 
must  have  two  things  in  view. 

First:  It  must  combine  the  wage-workers  i'n  such  a  way 
that  it  can  most  successfully  fight  the  battles  and  protect  the 
interests  of  the  workers  of  to-day  in  their  struggle  for  fewer 
hours  of  toil,  more  wages  and  better  conditions. 

Secondly:  It  must  offer  a  final  solution  of  the  labor  problem 
— an  emancipatio'n  from  strikes,  injunctions,  bull-pens  and  scab- 
bing of  workers  against  other  workers. 

Observe,  how  this  organization  will  give  recognition  to  con- 

23 


trol  of  shop  affairs,  provide  perfect  industrial  unionism  and  con- 
verge the  strength  of  all  organized  workers  to  a  common  center, 
from  which  any  weak  point  can  be  strengthened  and  protected. 

Observe,  also,  how  the  growth  and  developme'nt  of  this  or- 
ganization will  build  within  itself  the  structure  of  an  industrial 
democracy,  which  must  finally  burst  the  shell  of  capitalist  society 
and  be  the  agency  by  which  the  workers  will  operate  the  in- 
dustries and  appropriate  the  product  to  themselves. 

One  obligation  for  all. 

A  union  man  once  and  in  one  industry ;  a  union  man  always 
and  in  all  industries.    Universal  transfers,  universal  emblem. 

All  workers  of  one  industry  in  one  union;  all  unions  of 
workers  in  one  big  labor  alliance  the  world  over. 

Industrial  unionism  is  not  confined  to  one  country.  The  best 
expression  of  it  is  found  in  America,  in  the  Industrial  Workers 
of  the  World,  although  the  organization  may  appear  to  be  still 
weak,  numerically.  But  the  conditions  for  the  advent  of  the 
industrial  revolutionary  union  are  most  promising,  because  the 
most  advanced  and  highly  developed  industrial  system  of  pro- 
duction is  bound  to  find  its  counterpart  in  a  similar  perfected 
organization  of  the  working  class  on  the  industrial  field. 

As  presented  in  this  booklet,  these  institutions  for  wealth 
production,  so  well  organized,  so  masterfully  constructed,  sug- 
gest the  best  form  of  industrial  organizations  for  the  workers. 

Industries  are  organized  in  29  subdivisions,  or  industrial 
unions. 

This  arrangement  is  not  arbitrariy  fixed,  or  the  product  of 
one  man's  notion.  The- best  tabulations  of  statistical  experts  of 
different  countries  have  been  consulted,  and  the  systematic 
arrangement  will  stand  the  test  of  scientific  investigation. 

Of  course,  it  has  been  stated,  and  is  herewith  reiterated  that 
this  arrangement  of  industrial  organization  of  workers  would 
also  assure  the  most  effective  solidarity  of  all  producing  forces 
in  their  defensive  and  aggressive  struggles  for  the  amelioration 
of  the  evils  they  suffer  under,  evils  inherent  in  the  capitalist 
system  of  distribution  of  the  commodities  created  by  labor. 

When  the  workers  organize  in  industrial  unions,  copied  from 
the  institutions  in  which  they  are  employed,  they  will  be  able  to 
stand  together  as  powerful  industrial  combinations  in  their 
skirmishes  for  better  working  conditions  in  any  one  industry. 
Not  separated  by  craft  divisions  or  restrained  by  trade  union 
contracts  with  the  exploiters,  they  will  not  only  be  able  to  curtail 
production  on  a  small  scale  and  thus  also  tho  profits  of  the  em- 

24 


ployers  of  labor,  but  they  will  abruptly  stop  production  alto- 
gether, if  :necessary,  in  any  one  industry,  or  in  all  industries  of 
a  locality,  or  of  a  nation;  or  they  ca'n,  when  they  are  powerful 
enough,  shut  the  factories  against  the  present  employers  and 
commence  production  for  use. 

The  workers,  though,  must  wipe  out,  as  a  first  duty  to  them- 
selves, all  craft  demarcation  lines,  the  remnants  of  a  by-gone 
age.  Unhampered  by  that  straitjacket  they  can  then  develop 
and  organize  their  industrial  power.  But  that  power  must  be 
guided  in  its  use  and  exercise  by  the  collective  intelligence  which 
will  develop  simultaneously  with  the  generation  of  power. 
Equipped  with  the  power  of  an  industrial  organization,  with  the 
knowledge  gained  in  the  everyday  struggle  against  the  oppres- 
sors, they  will  successfully  strive  for  a  higher  standard  of  life 
conditions,  within  this  system,  and  they  can  master  things  and 
forces  so  that  they  will  reach  the  final  goal  of  all  efforts — com- 
plete industrial  emancipation. 

Hundreds  of  thousands  of  workers  in  every  civilized  country 
are  beginning  to  u'nderstand  the  principles  of  industrial  unionism. 
Thousands  are  organizing  for  the  battle  of  to-day,  for  better  con- 
ditions, and  for  the  final  clash  in  the  future  when  the  general 
lockout  of  the  parasite-class  of  non-producers  will  end  the  coti- 
test  for  industrial  possession  and  class  supremacy. 

You  are  one  of  the  millions  needed  to  accomplish  the  task, — 
join  the  industrial  union  composed  of  workers  ill  the  shop  or 
plant  where  you  work.  If  none  exists,  be  the  first  to  get  busy. 
Get  others,  and  help  them  to  organize  themselves.  Learn  to 
tackle  the  industrial  problems.  Show  others  how  the  workers 
will  be  able  to  run  the  industrial  plants  through  the  agencies  of 
their  own  creation,  locally,  nationally,  internationally — ^the 
world  over. 

There  are  organizations  almost  everywhere ;  and  where  there 
are  none,  they  will  be  formed.  In  the  industrial  union  move- 
ment alone  will  the  workers  forge  the  instrument,  and  train  them- 
selves for  the  use  of  all  and  every  industrial  weapon  that  can 
be  utilized  in  the  struggle  for  a  better  world.  In  the  industrial 
union  movement  the  workers  will  strictly  adhere  to  the  great 
words  of  a  great  thinker : 

*The  emancipation  of  the  workers  must  be  achieved  by  the 
working  class  itself. 

^'Workers  of  the  World,  Unite!" 


25 


THE  PREAMBLE 

OF  THE  INDUSTRIAL  WORKERS  OF  THE  WORLD 


The  working  class  and  the  employing  class  have  nothing 
in  common.  There  can  be  no  peace  so  long  as  hunger  and 
want  are  found  among  millions  of  working  people  and  the 
few,  who  make  up  the  employing  class,  have  all  the  good 
things  of  life. 

Between  these  two  classes  a  struggle  must  go  on  until 
the  workers  of  the  world  organize  as  a  class,  take  posses- 
sion of  the  earth  and  the  machinery  of  production,  and 
abolish  the  wage  system. 

We  find  that  the  centering  of  management  of  the  indus- 
tries into  fewer  and  fewer  hands  makes  the  trade  unions 
unable  to  cope  with  the  ever  growing  power  of  the  employ- 
ing class.  The  trade  unions  foster  a  state  of  affairs  which 
allows  one  set  of  workers  to  be  pitted  against  another  set 
of  workers  in  the  same  industry,  thereby  helping  defeat 
one  another  in  wage  wars.  Moreover,  the  trade  unions  aid 
the  employing  class  to  mislead  the  workers  into  the  be- 
lief that  the  working  class  have  interests  in  common  with 
their  employers.  ^ 

These  conditions  can  be  changed  and  the  interest  of  the 
working  class  upheld  only  by  an  organization  formed  in 
such  a  way  that  all  its  members  in  any  one  industry,  or 
in  all  industries  if  necessary,  cease  work  whenever  a  strike 
or  lockout  is  on  in  any  department  thereof,  thus  making 
an  injury  to  one  an  injury  to  all. 

Instead  of  the  conservative  motto,  "A  fair  day's  wage 
for  a  fair  day's  work,"  we  must  inscribe  on  our  banner  the 
revolutionary  watchword,  "Abolition  of  the  wage  system." 

It  is  the  historic  mission  of  the  working  class  to  do  away 
with  capitalism.  The  army  of  production  must  be  organ- 
ized, not  only  for  the  every-day  struggle  with  capitalists, 
but  also  to  carry  on  production  when  capitalism  shall  have 
been  overthrown.  By  organizing  industrially  we  are  form- 
ing the  structure  of  the  new  society  within  the  shell  of 
the  old. 


For  all  information  regarding  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the 
World  referred  to  in  this  booklet,  write  to  General  Secretary- 
Treasurer,  1001  W.  Madison  Street,  Chicago,  Illinois. 


26 


To  Be  Posted-.-- 


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1 


An  Economic 


Interpretation  = 
—  of  the  Job 


Price  Ten  Cents 


Published  by 

DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION 
Agricultural  Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  110 

of  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World 
Headquarters 
1001  W.  Madison  St.,  Chicago,  III. 


i 


An  Economic 
Interpretation 
of  the  Job 


JUNE,  1922 


Published  by 
DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION 
of 

Agricultural  Workers  Industrial  Union  No.  110 

of 

The  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World 

Headquarters 
1,001   W.   Madison   St.,       Chicago,  111. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION  3 

CHAPTER  I.  Labor  Power  5 

Selling  labor-power. 

Labor-power,  a  commodity. 

Market  relationship  of  capitalist  and  laborer. 

CHAPTER  II.  Exchange    Value  9 

Value  and  Technology. 

Socially  Necessary  Labor  Time. 

CHAPTER  III.   Surplus   Value  14 

Paid  and  Unpaid  Labor  Time. 

CHAPTER  IV.  The  Source  of  Profit       ....  17 

The  Profit  System. 
The  Class  Struggle. 
Capitalist  Enslavement. 

CHAPTER  V.  Prices  of  Commodities       ....  22 

Wages  and  Prices. 
Causes  of  Price  Rises. 
"The  American  Plan." 

CHAPTER  VI.  Price  Regulation  27 

High  wages  do  not  make  high  prices. 
Increased  Purchasing  Power. 
"High",  "fair"  and  "low"  Wages. 

CHAPTER  VII.  The  Standard  of  Living       ...  33 
The  Hours  of  Labor. 

CHAPTER  VIII.  Piece  Work  39 

The  Bonus  System. 
Profit  Sharing. 
Family  Pressure. 

CHAPTER  IX.  Origin  of  New  Capital       ....  44 

Accumulation  of  Capital. 
The  Migratory  Worker, 
Capital  and  Investment. 
What  Capital  is 

CHAPTER  X.  The  Market  Law       .       ...  .51 

Panics. 
The  Lesson. 
Consular  Service  Aid. 
One  Regulator. 
Shorter  Workday. 
The  I.  W.  W. 

CHAPTER  XL  In  Conclusion  58 

Capital,  an  acquired  character. 

Labor  Objective. 

Working  Class  Unionism. 

The  Industry  the  organizing  unit. 


lillllllllllllilllllllllll^ 


Introduction 

IN  THE  following  pages  the  reader  must  be  aware 
that,  wherever  a  worker's  activity  has  been  selected 
for  the  purpose  of  illustration,  both  the  worker  and 
his  process  typify  the  working  class  and  social  produc- 
tion; for  the  exploitation  of  wage  labor  is  the  exploita- 
tion of  one  class  by  another  class — the  working  class  by 
the  capitalist  class — and  is  not  necessarily  the  exploita- 
tion of  the  individual  worker  by  his  employer.  Unless 
we  understand  this  the  class  struggle  is  only  a  meaning- 
less phrase. 

The  Interdependence  of  Labor 

When  in  this  booklet  a  worker  or  a  working  group 
is  referred  to,  as  producing  some  article  or  commodity,  it 
is  necessary  to  understand  that  such  reference  is  merely 
to  illustrate  a  point.  Production  of  any  article  is  im- 
possible to  any  worker  under  the  capitalist  arrangement 
of  industry;  the  simplest  article  as  well  as  the  most 
complicated  machine  is  the  product  of  the  entire  work- 
ing class.  From  the  sulphur  match  to  the  aggregate  of 
the  world's  commodities  there  cannot  be  eliminated  any 
classification  of  labor,  and  have  the  match,  or  the  world's 
wealth. 

We  say  of  the  miner  that  he  produces  coal,  of  the 
baker  that  he  produces  bread,  but  such  is  not  the  case. 
They  assist  each  other  in  the  production  of  coal  and 
bread  and  are  at  the  same  time  dependent  upon  the 
balance  of  the  workers  for  their  equipment  and  mate- 
rials. Before  the  miner  goes  down  into  the  earth  his 
fellow  workers  in  every  line  of  human  endeavor  have  co- 
operatively labored  to  supply  him  with  house,  food, 
furniture,  clothing,  tools,  powder,  etc.;  so  that  in  the 
mining  of  coal  all  of  the  workers  assist  him.  They  do 
not  go  to  the  coal-face,  but  he  could  not  go  there  without 
them.  The  mining  of  coal  is  therefore  a  social  function 

3 


in  which  all  the  workers  participate.  What  the  miner 
does  is  to  perform  the  last  social  act  necessary  to  trans- 
form the  natural  deposit  into  usable  shape.  But  the  coal 
is  not  yet  produced — coal  is  not  mined  to  be  used  by 
the  miners,  it  is  intended  to  warm  some  home  or  furnish 
power  to  some  industry — other  workers  follow  the  miner 
to  complete  production  of  the  coal.  For  no  commodity 
is  produced  until  it  reaches  the  purchaser  who  consumes 
it  Only  when  this  has  happened  is  the  objective  which 
inspired  its  production  attained — the  satisfaction  of  an 
individual  or  social  need. 

The  Miner,  a  Typical  Illustration  Only 

The  miner  has  been  used  for  illustration  here,  but 
you  can  substitute  for  him  the  farmer,  logger,  sawyer, 
bricklayer,  teamster,  etc.,  and  no  matter  which  of  these 
you  select  a  study  of  his  activities  will  show  that  he 
works  in  conjunction  with  and  cannot  function  without 
the  balance  of  the  working  class.  Capitalist  industry 
has  so  organized  the  workers  that  their  mutual  inter- 
dependence is  its  outstanding  feature.  There  is  no  inde- 
pendence for  either  the  individual  or  the  group.  As  a 
class  they  labor  and  produce;  as  a  class  they  are  ex- 
ploited, and  as  a  class  they  must  organize,  and  through 
a  class  organization  only  will  they  be  enabled  to  achieve 
any  betterment  in  the  present  or  emancipation  finally. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION. 
A.  W.  I.  U.  No.  110 


4 


Illilllllllllllllllllllllilllllllillll!lliiilllilllllll!!y^ 


CHAPTER  L 
Labor  Power 

IF  YOU  are  a  wage  working  man  or  woman,  your  life 
is  conditioned  upon  having  access  to  a  job;  you 
must  establish  yourself  as  an  employee  to  some  em- 
ployer. 

To  establish  this  relationship  you  must  possess  some- 
thing which  the  employer  requires  in  the  business  in 
which  he  is  engaged.  You  have — the  power  to 
produce  wealth — labor  power.  It  is  the  only  thing  you 
have,  but  it  is  an  essential  factor  in  industry.  In  fact 
all  capitalist  industry  is  predicated  upon  the  existence 
of  men  and  women  like  you  who  have  no  other  way  to 
live,  except  by  offering  their  life  energy,  labor  power, 
for  sale. 

The  labor  power  of  the  workers  in  nearly  all  indus- 
trial occupations  is  used  in  connection  with  other  ex- 
pressions of  power  such  as  steam,  electricity,  gas,  water, 
gasoline  and  horses.  Labor  power  differs  from  these 
other  powers  in  that  it  not  only  expends  itself  but 
expends  itself  intelligently  and  directs,  controls  and 
uses  these  other  power  expressions.  The  brain  of  the 
worker,  as  well  as  his  arms  and  legs,  is  a  factor  of  his 
labor  power.  The  other  powers  would  as  likely  injure  as 
serve  without  the  guidance  of  labor  power. 

Selling  Labor  Power 

When  you  sell  your  labor  power  to  the  boss  you 
agree  to  deliver  to  him  the  use  of  it  for  so  many  hours 
per  day,  usually  ten,  for  which  he  in  turn  agrees  to  pay 
you  a  stipulated  price,  (known  as  wages)  of,  say,  $3.00 
per  day;  or  you  agree  to  embody  a  certain  amount  of  it 
into  the  raw  materials  he  provides  at  a  given  price.  The 
former  is  the  time  system  of  selling  labor  power,  the 
latter  is  the  piece  work  system.  In  either  case  you  sell 
your  labor  power  to  the  boss,  measured  by  the  clock  or 
incorporated  in  some  article. 

5 


When  you  sell  your  labor  power  you  deliver  it  by 
working  according  to  the  terms  of  the  sale.  If  one  has 
sugar  or  bacon,  or  a  coat  on  sale  by  handing  it  over  to 
the  buyer  and  receiving  from  him  the  exchange  for  it 
the  transaction  is  completed.  But  when  the  wage  worker 
sells  his  labor  power  he  must  accompany  it  to  the  place 
of  sale— field,  workshop,  mine,  railroad — and  work  there 
until  the  time  contracted  for  has  elapsed,  or  the  amount 
specified  has  been  delivered.  This  is  the  peculiar  quality 
of  labor  power — that  it  is  part  of  the  laborer — his  life 
energy  and  cannot  be  separated  from  him. 

Labor  Power  a  Commodity 

All  use-values  manufactured  and  offered  for  sale 
are  termed  commodities.  It  is  characteristic  of  capitalist 
production  that  its  products  are  intended  as  exchange 
values,  commodities — and  the  wage  worker  is  properly 
regarded  as  the  producer  of  labor  power — an  exchange 
value.  Now  things  can  only  have  an  exchange  value 
when  they  also  have  use  value.  So  labor  power  brings 
to  the  wage-worker  its  exchange,  or  market  value;  but 
in  return  for  the  exchange  value  the  boss  purchases  its 
use  value — the  right  to  use  it  for  the  time  specified — 
for,  say,  ten  hours. 

The  worker  sells  his  labor  power  and  receives  in 
return  a  wage,  out  of  which  he  must  provide  the  means 
of  life  for  himself  and  his  dependents.  The  boss  buys 
labor  power  because  he  needs  it  to  operate  his  establish- 
ment, whether  that  be  a  factory,  a  mine,  a  railroad  or 
a  farm.  The  most  up-to-date  equipment  is  valueless  as 
a  means  of  producing  wealth  unless  the  magic  influence 
of  labor  power  sets  it  in  operation.  It  is  not  a  philan- 
thropic motive  that  inspires  the  boss  to  employ  the  wage 
worker;  it  is  because  he  must  employ  him,  or  fail  in  his 
enterprise.  When  he  does  employ  the  laborer  he  drives 
as  hard  a  bargain  as  he  can,  which  means  that  he  will 
pay  the  laborer  as  little  as  the  laborer  will  work  for. 
But  the  least  the  laborer  is  inclined  to  accept,  on  the 
average,  is  a  wage  sufficient  to  maintain  him  and  his 
family  according  to  the  standard  of  living  obtaining 
among  the  workers.  And  this  standard  is  what  deter- 
mines his  wage.  The  labor  time  necessary  to  produce 
values  equal  to  that  required  to  maintain  and  reproduce 


6 


the  laborer  sets  the  exchange  value  of  his  labor  power, 
or  the  wage  of  the  worker.  As  you  will  see  later  this  is 
what  determines  the  relation  of  all  commodities  to  one 
another — the  amount  of  socially  necessary  labor  time 
contained  in  them — and,  as  labor  power  is  a  commodity, 
its  exchange  value  is  similarly  determined. 

But  labor  power,  unlike  other  commodities,  besides 
being  part  of  the  worker  is  associated  with  the  aspira- 
tions, hopes,  ambitions  and  will  of  the  owner.  That  is, 
as  well  as  being  a  commodity,  it  has  human  attributes, 
and  being  inseparable  from  the  laborer  has  the  effect 
of  reducing  him  to  a  commodity  basis.  In  capitalist 
society  he  is  not  only  a  producer  and  seller  of  a  com- 
modity— labor  power- — but  is  himself  practically  a  com- 
modity— a  package  of  labor  power  wrapped  up  in  a 
human  skin. 

The  Market  Relations  of  Capitalist  and  Laborer 

That  which  exists  between  the  laborer  and  his  em- 
ployer is  not  a  human  relationship  but  a  market  relation- 
ship— buyer  and  seller.  On  the  human  side  it  is 
not  the  relationship  of  man  to  man,  but  of  wage 
slave  to  capitalist  master.  When  it  is  said,  and  that  is 
very  often,  that  capitalist  enterprises  are  essentially 
philanthropic,  that  they  provide  means  whereby  the 
workers  are  enabled  to  live,  there  is  a  perversion  of  fact. 
What  the  capitalists  really  do  is  not  intended  to  provide 
the  workers  with  means  of  living  but  to  take  advantage 
of  the  workers'  lack  of  the  means  of  life.  As  dead  work- 
ers cannot  be  exploited  it  stands  to  reason  that  the 
workers  must  be  kept  alive  if  their  exploitation  is  to 
continue.  The  boss  is  not  at  all  concerned  about  how 
the  workers  live  just  so  they  are  able  to  deliver  to  him 
the  labor  power  for  which  he  bargains  with  them.  As 
fellow  humans  he  does  not  at  all  regard  them.  For  in- 
stance, if  the  boss  is  in  need  of  two  ''hands"  and  four 
men  apply  for  these  two  vacancies,  two  of  the  appli- 
cants are  strong  virile  men,  one  is  a  weakling  and  sickly, 
while  the  fourth  is  a  cripple,  the  boss  will  employ  the 
two  first,  because  they  possess  that  which  the  boss  is  in  the 
market  for — labor  power.  The  latter  two,  though  they 
may  be  in  desperate  straits  and  need  employment  worse 
than  the  others,  will  not  be  employed  because  the  boss 
needs  labor  power,  and  they  cannot  qualify. 


No  human  motive  inspires  the  boss  in  the  operation 
of  his  establishment.  He  is  governed  by  the  Rules  of 
Business.  Whether  he  is  buying  labor  power,  equipment 
or  raw  materials  he  strives  to  buy  at  the  lowest  figure 
and  demands  the  highest  quality.  He  favors  low  wages 
— a  low  price  for  labor  power — while  the  worker  desires 
a  high  price. 

Questions 

1.  What  is  meant  by  saying  ''the  worker's  life  is  con- 
ditioned upon  having  access  to  a  job"? 

2.  What  is  labor  power? 

3.  What  is  the  difference  between  labor  power  and 
other  powers  like  steam,  electricity,  etc.? 

4.  How  is  labor  power  measured? 

5.  Why  does  the  boss  buy  labor  power? 

6.  What  is  the  difference,  if  any,  between  labor  power 
and  labor? 

7.  What  is  a  commodity? 

8.  For  what  is  capitalist  production  carried  on? 

9.  Could  a  thing  have  exchange  value  without  having 
use  value?  Why? 

10.  Why  does  the  worker  sell  his  labor  power? 

11.  What  does  he  get  for  it? 

12.  What,  roughly,  determines  his  wage? 

13.  Have  the  boss  and  the  worker  the  same  interest 
when  the  worker  applies  for  a  job? 


8 


Illlllllllllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllillll^ 


illlliilllilllllllilllllllllllilllilllllllllllllllllllll 


CHAPTER  11. 

Exchange  Value. 

THE  boss  and  the  worker,  the  one  as  buyer  and  the 
other  as  seller,  do  not  set  the  exchange  value  of 
labor  power — wages.  The  market  dictates  to  both. 
The  interest  of  the  boss  inclines  him  to  obtain  it  at  the 
very  lowest  figure,  while  the  worker,  just  as  naturally, 
seeks  the  highest  possible  price.  But  the  market  rules 
that  labor  power  shall  exchange  upon  the  same  basis  as 
all  other  commodities — the  socially  necessary  labor  time 
required  to  produce  the  things  that  are  needed  to  main- 
tain the  laborer  at  the  prevailing  living  standard.  This 
is  the  measure  of  the  exchange  value  of  all  commodities. 
Socially  necessary,  of  course,  meaning  the  amount  of 
average  time  according  to  the  machinery  and  efficiency 
of  the  prevailing  method.  This  average  of  labor  time 
determines  the  relation  of  all  commodities  to  one  another 
in  the  market  and  governs  the  exchange  of  labor  power 
as  well  as  of  all  other  commodities.  Says  Marx,  ^'If 
we  consider  commodities  as  values,  we  consider  them 
exclusively  under  the  single  aspect  of  realized,  fixed,  or, 
if  you  like,  crystallized  social  labor.  In  this  respect  they 
can  differ  only  by  representing  greater  or  smaller  quanti- 
ties of  labor,  as,  for  example,  a  greater  amount  of  labor 
may  be  worked  up  in  a  silken  handkerchief  than  in  a 
brick.  But,  how  does  one  measure  quantities  of  labor? 
By  the  time  the  labor  lasts,  in  measuring  the  labor  by  the 
hour,  the  day,  etc." 

For  illustration,  if  we  take  one  day's  labor  power,  a 
cap,  a  book,  and  a  piece  of  bacon.  All  of  these  sell  for 
$3.00.  These  articles  have  nothing  in  common  that  is 
apparent  to  the  eye.  They  neither  look  alike  nor  serve 
the  same  purpose,  yet  there  is  in  all  of  them  some  com- 
mon quality,  and  in  all  of  them  to  the  same  degree,  which 
makes  them  equal  to  one  another  and  to  $3.00  in  gold. 
What  is  it?  The  amount  of  social  labor  time  necessary 

9 


to  produce  them  (and  the  $3.00  worth  of  gold  as  well) 
is  of  equal  duration. 

It  is  not  just  the  amount  of  time  that  a  commodity 
may  have  taken  to  produce  with  obsolete  tools  and  anti- 
quated methods,  but  the  socially  necessary  labor  time 
that  determines  its  exchange  value. 

Value  and  Technology. 

Karl  Marx  says,  (Value,  Price  and  Profit,  page  61) 
'*It  might  seem  that  if  the  value  of  a  commodity  is  de- 
termined by  the  quantity  of  labor  bestowed  upon  its  pro- 
duction, the  lazier  a  man,  or  the  clumsier  a  man,  the 
more  valuable  his  commodity,  because  the  greater  the 
time  of  labor  required  for  finishing  the  commodity.  This, 
however,  would  be  a  sad  mistake.  You  will  recollect 
that  I  used  the  word  social  labor,  and  many  points  are 
involved  in  this  qualification  of  'Social.'  In  saying  that 
the  value  of  a  commodity  is  determined  by  the  quantity 
of  labor  worked  up  or  crystallized  in  it,  we  mean  the 
quantity  of  labor  necessary  for  its  production  in  a  given 
state  of  society,  under  certain  social  average  conditions 
of  production,  with  a  given  average  intensity,  and  aver- 
age skill  of  the  labor  employed." 

Mary  Marcy,  (Shop  Talks  on  Economics)  uses  this 
illustration : 

"If  you  spend  three  months  cutting  up  a  log  with  a 
penknife  into  a  kitchen  chair,  it  will  be  no  more  valu- 
able in  the  end  than  the  kitchen  chair  made  in  the  big 
factories  where  many  men  working  at  large  machines 
produce  hundreds  of  chairs  in  a  single  day.'' 

The  exchange  value  of  the  chair  is  not  determined 
by  the  wasteful  expenditure  of  time  spent  in  whittling 
it  out  with  a  penknife,  but  by  the  average  time  necessary 
to  produce  it  with  modern  machinery  and  efficient 
methods.  It  is  not  the  amount  of  labor  time  but  the 
amount  of  socially  necessary  labor  time  that  determines 
its  exchange  value. 

Every  new  machine  installed  in  industry,  and  every 
improvement  in  the  machines  already  installed,  reduces 
the  amount  of  labor  time  necessary  for  the  production 
of  commodities  in  the  industries  where  these  machines 
are  used.  But  as  individual  machines  only  affect  some 
processes  the  average  of  labor  time  is  not  now  greatly 


10 


reduced  by  them.  The  average  of  time  is  determined  by 
the  average  of  machine  efficiency  throughout  industry, 
for  production  is  social  in  scope  and  character. 

The  time  saving  effect  of  the  installment  of  a  new 
machine  ,or  the  improvement  of  machinery  already  in- 
stalled, depends  upon  the  stage  of  industrial  develop- 
ment at  the  time  of  installment,  or  improvement.  In  the 
earlier  stages  of  capitalist  development,  when  the  ma- 
chine snatched  the  tool  from  the  hand  of  the  craftsman, 
the  effect  was  greater  than  at  present  when  machinery 
is  so  for  advanced  and  so  generally  used.  While  a  de- 
crease in  the  necessary  labor  time  is  still  reflected  in  the 
exchange  value  of  a  commodity,  there  are  now  factors 
operating  which  were  absent  in  the  earlier  stages  of 
capitalism  that  tend  to  obscure  this  fact. 

We  shall  now  borrow  another  illustration  from  Mary 
Marcy  (Shop  Talks  on  Economics,  Page  12),  ''Suppose 
every  shoe  factory  in  the  country  were  working  full  time 
in  order  to  supply  the  demand  for  shoes.  The  factories 
using  the  very  old-fashioned  machinery  would  require 
more  labor  to  the  shoe  than  the  factories  using  newer 
machines,  while  the  great,  up-to-date  factories  using  the 
most  modern  machinery  would  need  comparatively  little 
human  labor  power  in  producing  shoes.'' 

Socially  Necessary  Labor  Time. 

We  see  here  how  fewer  workers  with  more  highly 
developed  machinery  are  capable  of  greatly  increased 
output— less  labor  power,  or  time,  producing  greater 
results.  The  illustration  shows  not  only  how  the  average 
of  labor  time  is  lessened,  but  shows  as  well  a  lowering 
of  the  average  of  skill.  Machinery  affects  the  workers 
in  two  ways:  (1)  by  displacing  workers  and  (2)  by  dis- 
pensing with  their  skill.  It  makes  for  a  preponderance 
of  unskilled  and  little  skilled  workers  in  industry. 

The  sum  of  the  time  required  to  produce  all  the  shoes 
by  all  the  factories,  with  allowance  for  the  social  help- 
fulness of  other  workers,  determines  their  exchange- 
value  and  the  exchange-value  of  every  pair.  The  ex- 
change-value of  gold,  silver,  copper,  beans,  bacon, 
clothes — any  commodity — is  determined  in  the  same 
way,  by  the  social  labor  time  needed  to  produce  them. 


11 


Values  of  commodities  rise  or  fall  as  the  necessary  time 
is  increased  or  lessened.  Labor  power  is  no  exception  to 
this  rule.  The  labor  time  necessary  to  produce  labor  power 
determines  its  exchange  value.  We  quote  Marx:  "Like 
every  other  commodity  its  (labor  power)  value  is  de- 
termined by  the  quantity  of  labor  necessary  to  produce 
it.  The  laboring  power  of  a  man  exists  only  in  his  living 
individuality.  A  certain  mass  of  necessaries  must  be  con- 
sumed by  a  man  to  grow  up  and  maintain  his  life.  But 
the  man,  like  the  machine,  will  wear  out  and  must  be 
replaced  by  another  man.  Beside  the  mass  of  necessaries 
required  for  his  own  maintenance  he  wants  another 
amount  of  necessaries  to  bring  up  a  certain  quota  of 
children  that  are  to  replace  him  on  the  labor  market  and 
to  perpetuate  the  race  of  laborers.'' 

Food,  clothing  and  shelter  necessary  to  keep  the 
workman  fit  and  which  will  provide  for  his  family — 
the  labor  time  necessary  to  produce  these — is  what 
determines  the  exchange-value  of  labor  power.  Not  the 
time  needed  to  produce  necessaries  for  the  individual 
laborer,  but  the  average  for  the  class  of  laborers.  The 
laborer  must  be  replaced  constantly  and  the  source  of 
the  supply  of  labor  power  must  be  maintained.  So  the 
workers  must  receive,  on  the  average,  enough  to  main- 
tain them  as  workers  and  to  reproduce  other  workers  to 
take  their  places.  That  is  the  value  of  labor  power; 
this  is  what,  on  the  average,  the  capitalist  will  pay  his 
wage  workers. 

But  as  these  necessaries  are  determined  in  turn  by 
the  standard  of  living  prevailing  among  the  workers, 
the  living  standard  of  the  workers  is  and  must  be  under- 
stood as  governing  the  amount  of  labor  time  necessary 
to  produce  labor  power. 

QUESTIONS. 

1.  (a)  What  is  exchange-value,  and  (b)  use  value. 

2.  What  is  '^socially  necessary  labor  time"? 

3.  How  is  it  determined? 

4.  What  is  the  effect  of  new  machines? 

5.  Can  you  explain  Mary  Marcy's  illustration  of  the 

chair? 

12 


6.  Apply  Mary  Marcy's  illustration  of  the  shoe  factory 

to  a  single  pair. 

7.  Why  does  a  skilled  worker  (mechanic)  get  more 

pay  than  an  unskilled  workmen? 

8.  Why  does  the  workman,  ordinarily,  require  more 

than  his  own  necessaries? 

9.  What  is  meant  by  ''living  standard''? 

10.  Does  the  living  standard  of  the  workman  play  an 
important  part  in  our  economic  life?  Explain. 


18 


yi!lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!l!lilllllllllllll!IH 


CHAPTER  III. 


Surplus  Value 


HEN  the  laborer  has  sold  his  labor  power  to  the 


boss,  the  boss  sets  him  to  work  for  ten  (10)  hours, 


with  the  tools  and  upon  the  materials  which  he  has 
provided.  But  in,  say,  the  first  three  hours  of  the  working 
day  the  laborer  produces  exchange-values  for  the  boss 
equal  to  the  exchange-value  of  his  labor  power  for  the 
whole  day,  say  $3.00.  The  values  created  by  the  worker 
in  the  first  three  hours  compensate  the  boss  for  the  day's 
wage  which  he  pays  the  worker. 

But  the  worker  does  not  quit  working  at  the  end  of 
three  hours,  for  he  has  agreed  to  work  for  ten  hours. 
He  continues  creating  values  during  the  remaining 
seven  hours.  That  is  to  say  that  for  seven  hours  of  his 
working  day  the  worker  creates  values  for  which  he 
receives  no  compensation,  or  that  seven  hours  of  the 
worker's  daily  time  is  devoted  to  creating  values  which 
the  boss  appropriates  but  for  which  he  pays  the  worker 
nothing.  The  employer  will  claim  that  he  is  paying  the 
worker  for  ten  hours,  and  cite  or  show  his  contract  to 
prove  that  he  does.  It  is  under  the  cover  of  this  assump- 
tion that  the  exploitation  of  the  worker  under  capitalism 
has  been  so  successfully  hidden. 

This,  as  made  clear  by  Marx,  reads,  (Value,  Price 
and  Profit,,  page  79)  "But  by  paying  the  daily  or  weekly 
(exchange — Ed.)  value  of  the  spinner's  laboring  power 
the  capitalist  has  acquired  the  right  of  using  that  labor- 
ing power  during  the  whole  day  or  week.  He  will,  there- 
fore, make  him  work  say,  daily,  twelve  hours.  Over  and 
above  the  six  hours  required  to  replace  his  wages,  or  the 
value  of  his  laboring  power,  he  will,  therefore,  have  to 
work  six  other  hours,  which  I  shall  call  hours  of  surplus 
labor,  which  surplus  labor  will  realize  itself  in  a  surplus 
value  and  a  surplus  produce.'' 


14 


Paid  and  Unpaid  Labor  Time 

It  is  quite  easy  to  discern  the  exploitation  of  the 
chattel  slave.  He  was  provided  with  a  living  according 
to  the  standard  of  the  slaves  in  slave  society,  and  the 
products  of  his  labor  belonged  to  the  master.  There  is 
no  difficulty  in  seeing  the  nature  and  extent  of  the 
exploitation. 

The  exploitation  of  the  serf  also  is  apparent.  He 
tilled  his  lord^s  acres  for  the  greater  part  of  the  year  and 
his  own  allotment  the  rest  of  the  time. 

But  the  wage  worker  appears  to  be  paid  for  all  of 
his  time,  when  actually  he  is  only  paid  for  part  of  it. 
The  balance  of  the  time  (seven  hours)  he  labors  and 
receives  no  equivalent.  So  the  working  time  of  the 
laborer  is  divided  into  two  distinct  periods:  time  for 
which  he  is  paid,  and  time  for  which  he  receives  no 
return — paid  labor  time  and  unpaid  labor  time. 

Then  it  follows  that  commodities,  which  are  the 
fruits  of  the  expenditure  of  labor  power  by  the  worker 
— the  crystallization  of  it — have  in  them  also  two  ele- 
ments— paid  and  unpaid  labor. 

As  these  commodities  exchange  with  one  another  on 
the  basis  of  the  socially  necessary  labor  time  required  to 
produce  them,  it  follows  that  their  exchange  time  is  the 
sum  of  the  paid  and  the  unpaid  labor  time — the  total 
time  in  each  of  them. 

Marx,  Value,  Price  and  Profit,  page  87 :  ^'The  value 
of  a  commodity  is  determined  by  the  total  quantity  of 
labor  contained  in  it.  But  part  of  that  quantity  of  labor 
is  realized  in  a  value,  for  which  an  equivalent  has  been 
paid  in  the  form  of  wages;  part  of  it  is  realized  in  a 
value  for  which  no  equivalent  has  been  paid.  Part  of 
the  labor  contained  in  the  commodity  is  paid  labor;  part 
is  unpaid  labor.'' 

So  the  boss,  buying  the  labor  power  of  the  wage 
worker,  uses  it  to  obtain  values  for  which  he  gives  the 
worker  nothing  in  return — surplus  values.  This  differ- 
ence between  his  wage  and  the  values  resulting  from 
his  labor  is  what  enables  the  capitalist  to  grow  rich  and 
keeps  the  w^orker  poor. 

Under  capitalism  it  is  not  termed  robbery.  It  is, 
indeed,  considered  highly  respectable  and  moral;  it  is 


15 


legalized  and  sanctified ;  approved  by  our  "best  citizens'' 
and  is  euphoniously  designated  business. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  happens  when  the  worker  sells  his  labor 
power? 

2.  How  is  the  working  day  divided  as  regards  the 
working  time  of  the  laborer? 

3.  How  was  the  chattel  slave  exploited?   The  serf? 

4.  How  is  the  wage  worker  exploited? 

5.  Is  there  any  difference  between  the  chattel  slave, 
the  serf  and  the  wage  worker?  Explain  what  it  is. 

6.  Explain  surplus  value  by  Marx's  illustration  of  the 
spinner.  Apply  it  to  a  farm  hand. 

7.  If  the  wage  worker  sells  his  labor  power  for  ten 
hours  how  does  the  boss  exploit  him? 

8.  How  is  the  present  slavery  of  the  workers  hidden 
from  them? 

9.  What  part  of  the  I.  W.  W.  preamble  covers  this 
process  of  working  class  exploitation? 

10.  In  your  opinion  why  do  the  workers  fail  to  recog- 
nize their  robbery  in  production? 


16 


Illlllllllllllllllllllllililllllllllllllllllllll^ 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Source  of  Profit. 

IN  THE  last  article  we  discovered  that  the  wage  worker 
produces  a  surplus  of  values  in  the  course  of  the 
working  day  which  accrues  to  the  boss — values  for 
which  the  boss  gives  the  laborer  no  return. 

As  Marx  puts  it:  "The  surplus  value,  or  that  part  of 
the  total  value  of  a  commodity  in  which  the  surplus  labor 
or  unpaid  labor  is  realized,  I  call  Profit."  (Value,  Price 
and  profit,  page  89.) 

The  average  person  believes  that  profit  is  made  by 
charging  for  things  a  price  above  their  value;  by  cheat- 
ing, or  in  some  devious  way,  but  nothing  can  be  further 
from  fact  than  such  a  supposition.  While  there  is  rob- 
bery it  does  not  take  place  over  the  counter,  but  has 
already  taken  place  where  the  laborer  works  and  while 
he  was  working,  and  it  resolves  itself  into  the  unpaid 
labor  crystallized  in  the  commodities. 

It  is  not  by  charging  in  excess  of  their  values,  but  by 
selling  (exchanging)  them  at  their  real  values  that  profit 
is  made.  Let  us  again  refer  to  Marx,  "By  selling,  there- 
fore, the  commodity  at  its  value,  that  is,  as  the  crystal- 
lization of  the  total  quantity  of  labor  bestowed  upon  it, 
the  capitalist  must  necessarily  sell  at  a  profit.  He  sells  not 
only  what  has  cost  him  an  equivalent,  but  he  sells  also 
what  cost  him  nothing,  although  it  has  cost  his  workman 
labor.  The  cost  of  the  commodity  to  the  capitalist 
(money  cost — Ed)  and  its  real  cost  (labor  cost — Ed) 
are  different  things.  I  repeat,  therefore,  that  normal  and 
average  profits  are  made  selling  commodities  not  above, 
but  at  their  real  values."  (Value,  Price  anu  Prifit,  pages 
87-88.) 

When  the  capitalist  takes  his  commodities  into  the 
market  he  exchanges  with  other  capitalists  for  their  com- 
modities, and  when  the  exchange  is  effected  the  capi- 
talists, by  exchanging  for  the  real  value  of  their  commo- 

17 


dities,  all  make  a  profit,  for  each  of  them  will  have 
pocketed  that  share  of  each  commodity  which  cost  them 
nothing.  This  is  v/hat  Marx  terms  ''normal  and  average 
profit.''  It  is  this  that  inspires  capitalist  production.  If 
cheating  were  the  rule  there  would  be  no  cohesion  among 
the  capitalists,  but  it  is  imperative  for  their  interest,  for 
the  continuation  of  the  exploitation  of  wage  labor,  that 
profits  be  made  legally.  They  have  made  laws  (rules) 
to  enforce  this  practice  as  a  measure  of  safety,  of  course, 
for  themselves. 

The  Profit  System. 

Profits  are  the  logical  fruit  of  capitalist  industry. 
They  are  inherent  in  this  system  of  production  and  ex- 
change. Capitalism  has  been  appropriately  termed  the 
''profit  system."  Its  products  are  commodities,  and  its 
production  is  for  exchange.  Production  of  commodities 
for  exchange,  with  profit  for  its  objective. 

While  its  products  are  use  values,  it  produces  them 
only  in  the  light  of  exchange  values — things  that  will 
sell.  Of  course,  people  will  only  buy  them  when  they 
intend  to  use  them.  To  the  capitalist  they  are  things 
that  will  sell  and  for  which  he  receives  more  than  they 
cost  him  to  produce — they  are  a  means  of  profit. 

A  failure  to  understand  the  source  and  the  nature  of 
profit— surplus  values  out  of  which  the  wage  worker  is 
exploited — leads  the  average  worker  to  believe  that  he 
is  robbed  in  the  purchase  of  the  commodities  he  buys — 
as  a  consumer.  The  workers  who  act  upon  this  assump- 
tion are  hunting  the  remedy  in  the  wrong  direction.  For 
a  rise  in  the  price  of  the  commodities  v/hich  he  must 
purchase  means  that  the  labor  time  necessary  to  produce 
his  labor  power  has  been  increased.  He  must,  and,  when 
he  understands,  he  will  seek  more  pay  from  the  em- 
ployer. Whenever,  and  from  whatever  cause,  the  pur- 
chasing power  of  wages  falls  below  what  is  required  to 
enable  the  worker  to  maintain  the  established  living 
standard  he  has  received  the  equivalent  of  a  cut  in 
wages.  Whether  it  be  due  to  a  rise  in  the  price  of  com- 
modities, or  reflects  a  depreciation  of  the  value  of  gold, 
it  is  to  be  repaired  only  by  a  corresponding  increase 
in  his  wage;  he,  as  a  worker,  must  seek  redress  out  of 
the  measure  of  surplus  value ;  he  must  increase  the  mea- 


18 


sure  of  his  paid  labor  time — ^get  more  wages.  If  this 
does  not  happen  labor  power  will  be  selling  below  its 
value. 

For,  if  the  consumer  is  exploited  in  the  purchase  of 
commodities,  there  need  be  no  exploitation  of  the  laborer 
in  production.  Not  only  that  but  as  the  individual  capi- 
talist is  a  greater  consumer  than  the  individual  laborer 
he  would  be  exploited  to  a  greater  degree.  The  worker 
and  his  employer  would  have  a  common  interest  and 
would  make  common  cause  with  the  baker  against  the 
grocery  man  and  the  butcher.  Afterward  they  could 
form  another  alliance  with  the  grocery  man  and  the 
butcher  against  the  baker,  and  so  on,  ad  infinitum. 

The  worker  would  be  going  in  the  wrong  direction. 
He  would  be  traveling  in  a  vicious  circle  and  at  the  end 
of  his  activity  would  find  that  he  was  as  badly  off  as 
before,  and  would  realize  that  to  regain  his  living  stan- 
dard he  would  be  compelled  to  demand  a  higher  wage 
from  his  boss. 

For  the  worker  is  one  member  of  the  class  of  labor- 
ers. As  a  wage  worker  he  produces  values  for  which  he 
receives  no  equivalent.  He  does  not  do  this  from  choice, 
but  because  the  situation  of  the  class  of  which  he  is  part 
compels  him  to  sell  his  labor  power  that  he  may  provide 
himself  and  family  with  the  means  of  life.  The  capitalist 
class  takes,  as  its  portion  of  wealth  production,  all  the 
surplus  values  resulting  from  the  labor  of  the  working 
class.  If  the  living  standard  of  the  working  class  be 
lowered,  the  value  of  labor  power  will  be  reduced,  and 
the  measure  of  surplus  value  will  be  increased — ^profits 
will  be  greater. 

The  Class  Struggle. 

The  interest  of  the  capitalists  lies,  therefore,  in  forc- 
ing, if  they  can,  a  lower  living  standard  upon  the  work- 
ers. Naturally  the  interest  of  the  workers  lies  in  not 
only  maintaining  their  present  standard  but  in  trying  to 
elevate  it.  This  antagonism  is  an  evidence  of  what  we 
know  as  the  class  struggle.  The  class  struggle  is  a  living 
human  and  social  fact,  and  must  be  the  guide  by  which 
all  working  class  activity  is  determined  and  directed. 
The  consciousness  of  this  class  struggle  should  ever  be 
with  the  worker,  for  the  real  position  and  condition  of 


19 


the  "free  laborer"  in  capitalist  society  is  that  of  a  mem- 
ber of  a  slave  class.  The  individual  worker  may  quit  his 
job  at  will,  but  he  must  seek  another  boss  without  delay. 
As  Marx  puts  it:  "But  the  laborer,  whose  only  source  of 
earning  is  the  sale  of  his  labor  power,  cannot  leave  the 
whole  class  of  its  purchasers,  that  is  the  capitalist  class, 
without  renouncing  his  own  existence.  He  does  not  be- 
long to  this  or  that  employer,  but  he  does  belong  to  the 
capitalist  class;  and  more  than  that,  it  is  his  business  to 
find  an  employer ;  that  is  among  the  capitalist  class  it  is 
his  business  to  discover  his  own  particular  purchaser.'' 
(Wage,  Labor  and  Capital,  page  19.) 

Capitalist  Enslavement. 

Capitalist  enslavement  of  the  working  class  enables 
the  capitalists  to  own  the  products  of  the  workers'  labor. 
And  this  is  all  that  other  forms  of  slavery  meant.  The 
difference  is  only  in  appearance;  the  slavery  is  as  com- 
plete, in  fact  more  complete.  Says  Marx:  ^^Capital  pre- 
supposes wage-labor  and  wage-labor  presupposes  capi- 
tal." That  is,  there  could  not  be  a  capitalist  unless  there 
was  a  class  of  workers  which  could  not  live  except  by 
selling  their  life  energy — a  class  in  a  slave  position. 

The  exploitation  of  the  worker  can  only  occur  while 
he  is  working  .  Having  nothing  to  be  robbed  of  but  his 
power  to  produce  wealth  he  cannot  be  robbed  of  more 
than  he  has.  It  is  in  the  working  place — on  the  job — 
that  the  worker  is  exploited.  Exploitation  cannot  occur 
anywhere  else.  There  is  no  other  place  toward  which  he 
can  apply  for  redress  and  expect  to  get  it.  His  control 
over  production  is  the  only  power  he  can  exercise  with  a 
prospect  of  result.  This  power  is  beyond  him,  also,  until 
he  organizes  to  employ  it.  He  need  look  to  the  capitalists 
for  no  consideration  or  help.  Says  Marx:  ''The  interests 
of  capital  are  in  direct  antagonism  to  the  interests  of 
wage-labor." 

To  blame  the  shopkeeper  is  a  waste  of  time  and  mis- 
directed energy,  for  the  regulation  of  commodity  prices 
is  beyond  the  workers'  powers.  When  prices  rise,  while 
wages  remain  stationary,  the  worker  has  received  in 
effect  a  cut  in  wages.  He  must  strive  in  the  direction  of 
a  wage  increase;  he  must  seek  an  increase  in  the  mea- 
sure of  his  paid  labor  time;  compel  the  boss  to  forego 


20 


some  of  his  surplus  value.  The  worker  is  not  robbed 
over  the  counter,  but  at  the  point  of  production,  and  it  is 

in  production  he  must  look  for  restoration — in  the  work- 
ing place  and  from  the  boss. 

QUESTIONS. 

1.  What  does  Marx  call  profit? 

2.  Is  profit  made,  ordinarily,  by  charging  excessive 

prices? 

3.  How  is  normal  or  average  profit  made? 

4.  Why  is  capitalism  called  ''the  profit  system''? 

5.  What  happens  if  prices  rise  and  wages  do  not  rise 

correspondingly  ? 

6.  Should  the  worker  try  to  get  prices  lowered  or  to 

have  wages  raised?  Why? 

7.  Why  do  the  capitalists   strive   for   lower  living 

standards  for  the  workers? 

8.  What  is  the  class  struggle? 

9.  What  is  the  position  of  the  free  laborer  in  capitalist 

society? 

10.  What  is  the  substance  of  slavery? 

11.  What  is  meant  by  "the  interests  of  capital  are  in 

direct  antagonism  to  the  interests  of  wage-labor"? 


21 


iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Price  of  Commodities 

THE  value  of  a  commodity — its  relation  to  other  com- 
modities— is  not  the  same  thing  as  its  price,  the 
money  or  gold  expression  for  which  it  sells  on  the 
market.  For,  while  the  value  of  a  commodity  is  deter- 
mined solely  by  the  amount  of  socially  necessary  labor 
time  embodied  in  it,  and  fluctuates  only  as  the  volume 
of  this  time  changes,  the  price  of  a  commodity  is  in- 
fluenced by  market  conditions  prevailing  at  the  time 
of  sale. 

The  relation  between  the  supply  of  any  commodity 
in  the  market  and  the  demand  for  it  is  an  important 
factor  in  regulating  its  price.  If  the  supply  is  in  excess 
of  the  demand  the  price  tends  to  run  below  its  value. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  demand  outruns  the  supply,  its 
price  will  incline  to  be  high  and  the  article  will  sell 
above  its  value. 

Wages  and  Prices 

Generally  speaking,  value  and  price  are  equal,  and, 
on  the  average,  a  commodity  which  costs  ten  hours  of 
labor  to  produce  will  exchange  with  gold  containing 
ten  hours  of  socially  necessary  labor  time. 

There  is  an  altogether  too  common  belief  that  the 
wages  paid  the  workers  regulate  the  prices  of  commo- 
dities. For  some  time  past  every  source  of  capitalist 
propaganda  has  been  used  to  advance  this  erroneous 
idea,  and,  unfortunately  for  themselves,  the  workers  have 
been  misled  into  accepting  this  pernicious  doctrine  as 
economic  truth,  with  the  result  that,  where  they  have 
not  voluntarily  accepted  wage  cuts,  they  have  been  half- 
hearted in  their  resistance  to  the  wage  cutting  campaign 
instituted  by  the  capitalists. 

During  the  war  period,  which  includes  also  a  few 
years  following  the  cessation  of  active  hostilities,  the 
(money)  wage  of  the  workers  had  risen  to  comparatively 

22 


high  levels  but  the  prices  of  commodities  had  risen  to 
proportionately  higher  levels.  It  is  claimed  that  the 
higher  wages  paid  the  workers  during  and  after  the  war 
are  responsible  for  the  rise  in  prices.  But  during  that 
entire  period,  more  especially  after  America's  entry 
into  the  war,  there  was  to  an  extreme  degree  a  diversion 
of  manufacturing  from  the  production  of  the  ordinary 
products  of  peace  to  an  intensified  production  of  war 
materials.  Even  much  of  the  production  which  serves  the 
purposes  of  war  equally  with  the  purposes  of  peace  was 
preempted  for  support  of  the  military  effort.  Many 
manufacturing  plants  were  transformed  from  instru- 
ments of  peace  production  into  war-material  establish- 
ments of  one  kind  or  another.  Commercial  production 
suffered  a  decline. 

And  as  a  consequence  of  the  withdrawal  of  many 
millions  of  men  from  industrial  pursuits  the  demand  for 
laborers  greatly  exceeded  the  supply  and  wages  went 
up.  But  if  the  supply  of  laborers  was  unequal  to  the 
demand  for  wage  workers,  so  also  was  the  supply  of 
necessaries  unequal  to  the  demand  for  them.  Especially 
is  this  true  when  the  increased  purchasing  power  of  the 
workers  is  taken  into  account. 

Imports  were  nominal  and  as  the  countries  to  which 
we  usually  export  were  involved  in  the  war  and  intent  up- 
on furthering  their  own  military  efforts  they  had  little  to 
export,  nor  opportunity  to  do  so  had  they  been  so  in- 
clined, as  water  transportation  was  extremely  perilous. 
Competition  between  the  American  manufacturers  and 
merchants  was  practically  eliminated.  There  obtained 
then  a  market  condition  where  supply  was  greatly  under 
demand  and  prices  ruled  high.  There  was  also  a  labor 
market  where  demand  was  greatly  in  excess  of  supply 
and  wages  (money  wages)  had  risen. 

The  high  prices  of  commodities  were  not  due  to  the 
high  (money)  wages  paid  the  workers,  but  were  due  to 
the  market  conditions  prevailing  which  were  favorable 
to  the  dealers. 

Cause  of  Commodity  Price  Rises 

The  desire  of  the  workers,  whose  wages  had  risen, 
to  improve  their  living  standards  led  to  great  buying 
activity  in  the  necessaries  of  life,  and,  as  well,  of  things 

28 


hitherto  out  of  reach,  and  was  responsible  for  much  of  the 
commodity  price  rise.  There  was  also  a  rise  in  the  price  of 
luxuries  because  the  war-profiteering,  and  that  which 
was  not  profit  but  plain  (even  if  protected)  graft  enabled 
the  profiteers  and  grafters  to  indulge  their  craving  for 
luxurious  adornment  and  other  extravagances.  The  war 
period  was  the  golden  opportunity  of  the  bourgeoisie 
and  they  minted  every  minute. 

Had  wages  not  risen  everyone  realizes  what  effect 
the  restricted  production  and  the  consequent  market 
condition  would  have  had  upon  the  workers  and  their 
living  standard.  Wages  had  to  rise  and  did  rise  only 
after  commodity  prices  compelled  a  raise.  Whenever  dur- 
ing the  war  period  a  rise  in  wages  was  demanded  it 
was  always  based  upon  a  preceding  increase  in  com- 
modity prices,  rents,  etc.,  which  in  itself  shows  that  high 
wages  did  not  cause  high  prices,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
followed  as  a  result  of  high  prices. 

Had  the  period  lasted  longer  there  would  have  been 
a  return  to  normal  prices  and  as  a  result  the  workers 
would  have  established  a  new  and  improved  standard 
of  living.  But  the  capitalists  determined  not  only  to 
prevent  any  elevation  of  the  old,  traditional  living  stan- 
dard but  to  force  a  lowering  of  it. 

"The  American  Plan" 

For  every  improvement  of  the  workers'  living'  stan- 
dard strengthens  the  position  of  the  working  class  and 
weakens  that  of  the  employing  class.  The  advantage 
of  cheap  labor  is  well  understood  by  the  capitalist  class, 
for  the  lower  the  living  standard  the  cheaper  the  laborer. 
So  there  was  a  concerted  move  by  the  capitalist  interests 
which  had  for  its  objective  the  lowering  of  the  workers' 
living  standard.  This  movement  is  known  variously 
as  "Americanism,"  "The  American  Plan,''  and  the  "Open 
Shop  Movement."  It  is  well  organized,  well  financed 
and  well  managed.  This  movement  has  made  some  head- 
way due  in  great  measure  to  the  acceptance  by  the  work- 
ers of  the  economic  sophistry  that  the  high  prices  were 
due  to  high  wages.  Just  in  proportion  as  they  accepted 
this  for  truth  they  refused  to  resist  the  effort  to  reduce 
their  living  standard  by  accepting  w;age-cuts.  But  the 
principal  reason  was  the  fact  that  owing  to  their  nume- 

24 


rous  craft  unions  they  were  unable  to  restrict  competi- 
tion among  themselves  and  to  present  a  united  front  to 
the  capitalists. 

"By  what  means  is  the  price  of  a  commodity  deter- 
mined?" asks  Marx  in  "Wage,  Labor  and  Capital,"  and 
then  proceeds  to  answer  his  own  question  as  follows : 

"By  means  of  competition  between  buyers  and  sel- 
lers and  the  relation  between  supply  and  demand — offer 
and  desire.  And  this  competition  by  which  the  price  of 
an  article  is  fixed  is  threefold. 

"The  same  commodity  is  offered  in  the  market  by 
various  sellers.  Whoever  offers  the  greatest  advantage 
to  purchasers  is  certain  to  drive  the  other  sellers  off  the 
field,  and  secure  for  himself  the  greatest  sale.  The 
sellers,  therefore,  fight  for  the  sale  and  the  market  among 
themselves.  Everyone  of  them  wants  to  sell,  and  does  his 
best  to  sell  much,  and  if  possible  to  become  the  only 
seller.  Therefore  each  outbids  the  other  in  cheapness, 
and  a  competition  takes  place  among  the  sellers  which 
lowers  the  price  of  the  goods  they  offer. 

"Finally  competition  is  going  on  between  buyers  and 
sellers;  the  one  set  want  to  buy  as  cheaply  as  possible, 
the  other  to  sell  as  dear  as  possible.  The  result  of  this 
competition  between  buyers  and  sellers  will  depend 
upon  the  two  previous  aspects  of  the  competition;  that 
is,  upon  whether  the  competition  in  the  ranks  of  the 
buyers  or  that  in  those  of  the  sellers  is  the  keener.  Busi- 
ness thus  leads  two  opposing  armies  into  the  field,  and 
each  of  them  presents  the  aspect  of  a  battle  in  its  own 
ranks  among  its  own  soldiers.  That  army  whose  troops 
are  least  mauled  by  one  another  carries  off  victory  over 
the  opposing  host." — (Wage,  Labor  and  Capital,  pp. 
19-20.) 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Is  there  a  difference  between  the  value  of  an  article 
and  its  price? 

2.  What  regulates  the  price  of  a  commodity? 

3.  Does  a  raise  in  wages  compel  a  rise  in  prices?  Why? 

4.  What  was  the  primary  cause  of  high  prices  during 
and  immediately  following  the  war? 


25 


5.  What  does  the  "open  shop  drive"  aim  at? 

6.  Do  the  craft  unions  help  those  behind  the  open  shop 
drive?  How? 

7.  Show  the  result  of  competition  among  sellers  of  a 
commodity.  Apply  it  to  labor  power. 

8.  What  do  you  understand  by  "the  competition  be- 
ween  buyers  and  sellers"? 

9.  What  do  you  understand  by  "offer  and  desire"  as 
used  in  the  text? 

10.  Can  you  apply  Marx'  illustration  of  "opposing  ar- 
mies" to  the  workers?  How? 


26 


iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiy 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Price  Regulation 

THE  wages  paid  the  workers  do  not  affect  the  prices 
of  commodities.  That  is  to  say  that  high  wages  do 
not  make  high  prices,  nor  do  low  wages  make  low 
prices.  The  relation  of  supply  to  demand  is  an  important 
factor  in  price  regulation. 

If  there  are  100  tons  of  coal  on  the  market  and  a 
thousand  people  each  of  whom  want  to  buy  a  ton  of 
coal,  the  competition  between  these  thousand  persons 
would  bring  the  price  of  coal  up ;  and  if  the  weather  was 
extremely  cold  the  sellers  of  coal  could  charge  much 
more  than  if  the  weather  was  mild.  For  the  need  of 
coal  by  each  of  the  thousand  persons  would  intensify 
the  competition  among  them  to  obtain  coal  which  the 
cold  spell  makes  an  imperative  need  to  them.  The  value 
of  coal  would  not  have  increased  but  its  price  would, 
due  to  the  market  conditions  prevailing  at  the  time  of 
sale.  But  if  the  weather  was  mild  the  need  of  coal  would 
not  be  so  great  and  those  who  wanted  coal  would  delay 
a  day  or  so  in  the  hope  that  a  more  favorable  condition 
would  then  exist — the  competition  among  the  buyers 
would  not  be  quite  so  keen  and  prices  would  not  be  so 
high. 

If  on  the  other  hand  there  were  1,000  tons  of  coal 
on  the  market  and  only  100  purchasers  the  competition 
would  be  among  the  sellers  of  coal  and  prices  would 
drop.  Again  the  value  of  coal  would  not  have  altered, 
but  the  market  condition  would  have  depressed  its  price. 

When  prices  remain  above  value  for  any  period  of 
time  there  is  a  compensating  period,  during  which  price 
is  below  value.  But  taking  the  fluctuations  of  price 
above  and  below  value  and  on  the  average,  commodities 
will  be  found  to  sell  at  their  value — value  and  price  are 
on  the  average  equivalents. 

As  profit  is  the  objective  of  every  capitalist  enter- 

27 


prise  and  can  only  be  realized  in  exchange,  there  must 
be  some  basis  upon  which  commodities  will  exchange. 
That,  as  we  have  stated,  is  on  the  basis  of  the  necessary 
social  labor  time  incorporated  in  them.  We  found  that 
this  labor  time  consisted  of  two  elements — paid  labor 
time  and  unpaid  labor  time. 

High  Wages  Do  Not  Make  High  Prices 

Let  us  take  the  rectangle  A  to  represent  the  day's 
working  time,  dividing  it  into  ten  parts  to  represent  the 
hours  of  labor  and  using  the  pointer  B  to  indicate  the 
three  hours  which  we  have  assumed  is  required  to 
produce  values  equal  to  the  day's  wage  of  the  worker. 


1  1  1  2 
1 

3  1  4 
0 

B 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

A 


If  the  labor  power  of  the  worker  for  one  day  is  equi- 
valent to  the  social  labor  time  necessary  to  the  produc- 
tion of  one  commodity,  that  commodity  will  exchange 
for  other  commodities  containing  a  similar  quantity  of 
labor  time.  But  part  of  that  labor  time  is  paid  for  (3 
hours)  and  part  of  it  is  not  paid  for  (7  hours).  Now 
if  the  laborer's  pay  is  raised  from  $3.00  to  $4.00  per  day 
it  will  require  one  more  hour,  or  four  hours,  of  his  work- 
ing time  to  produce  values  equivalent  to  the  new  wage. 
That  is  to  say  that  he  is  now  paid  for  four  hours  and 
the  unpaid  labor  time,  being  less  by  one  hour,  the  boss 
takes  one  hour  less  of  values.  But  the  commodity  still 
requires  ten  hours  of  labor  time  to  produce  and  on 
the  market  will  only  exchange  upon  that  basis.  The 
boss  cannot  add  to  its  price  because  the  law  of  the 
market  forces  obedience  from  him  and  the  holders  of 
other  commodities  will  refuse  to  trade  except  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  law  of  exchange.  There  has  occurred 
nothing  to  change  the  relationship  of  the  commodity  to 
other  commodities.  What  has  occurred  is  a  change  in 
the  relationship  of  its  constituent  elements  to  each  other 
— the  paid  labor  time  element  has  been  increased  and 


28 


the  unpaid  labor  time  element  has  been  diminished. 
As  the  boss  loses  the  creative  result  of  one  hour  of  the 
worker's  time  it  is  but  natural  for  him  to  try  to  persuade 
the  worker  that  high  wages  are  a  bad  thing;  that  they 
will  make  commodities  dear.  But,  if  we  stop  to  think 
about  it,  the  boss  would  not  object  to  paying  high  wages 
except  for  one  thing — they  mean  smaller  profits  for  him. 
If  he  could  compensate  himself  for  an  increase  in  wages 
by  charging  higher  prices  he  would  not  fight  a  wage 
demand ;  but  it  is  because  he  cannot  do  so  that  he  fights 
so  bitterly  against  a  wage  increase.  High  wages  do  not 
make  high  prices.  When  the  capitalist  cries  out  that 
they  do,  what  he  really  means  is  that  they  make  smaller 
profits,  and  that  is  why  he  is  unalterably  opposed  to 
them. 

Low  Wages  Do  Not  Mean  Low  Prices 

If  the  wage  of  the  worker  is  lowered  from  $3.00 
to  $2.00  there  will  not  be  any  fall  in  prices,  for  the 
reason  that  in  this  case,  as  in  the  other,  there  is  no 
change  in  the  time  necessary  to  produce  the  commodity. 
The  worker  is  now  paid  for  2  hours  and  the  results  of 
his  labor  for  8  hours  accrues  to  the  boss.  The  boss  would 
be  better  off  than  before  and  he  would  still  take  the 
commodity  to  the  market  and  exchange  it  for  a  price 
equal  to  its  value  and  above  it,  if  he  can,  and  below  it 
when  he  must.  But  the  wage  of  the  worker  has  no  more 
to  do  with  price  than  the  mercury  in  a  thermometer  has 
to  do  with  the  weather. 

If  the  commodity  sells  for  $10.00  and  the  worker's 
wage  has  been  increased  from  $3.00  to  $4.00  the  boss 
makes  $1.00  less  profit.  The  article  will  still  sell  for 
$10.00,  because  the  thing  that  determines  its  value- 
labor  time — has  in  nowise  altered.  But  the  boss  does  not 
like  the  fall  in  profits  and  howls  about  high  prices  as 
though  he  ever  was  concerned  about  anything  lower 
than  "all  the  traffic  will  bear." 

What  the  boss  would  like  to  do,  and  what  he  would 
do  if  the  market  would  permit  him,  is  to  raise  the  price 
of  the  commodity  so  as  to  maintain  the  old  rate  of  profit 
or  even  to  increase  it.  As  he  cannot  do  so  he  tries  the 
next  best  thing — induces  the  worker  to  accept  a  cut  in 
wages  and  then  another  while  the  cutting  is  good.  Wit- 


29 


ness  the  open  shop  drive!  Surplus  value  is  the  only 
source  of  profit.  That  is  the  Holy  of  Holies  of  the  capi- 
talist. He  regards  any  inroads  upon  surplus  value  as 
an  act  of  sacrilege.  He  fights  bitterly  and  musters  every 
ounce  of  his  power  to  prevent  it.  - 

Increased  Demand  Temporarily  Increases  Prices 

When  a  rise  in  wages  takes  place  the  workers  have 
more  money  with  which  to  purchase  commodities.  They 
go  into  the  market  to  supply  their  needs  first,  then  their 
wants.  The  increased  demand  thus  created  tends  to 
temporarily  advance  the  prices  of  commodities.  These 
commodities,  for  the  time  being,  sell  above  their  value. 
The  rise  in  prices  appears  to  be  due  to  the  rise  in  wages, 
whereas  it  results  from  the  increased  demand  arising 
from  the  increased  purchasing  power  of  the  workers. 
It  is  not  because  wages  have  risen  that  prices  are  high, 
but  because  the  workers  are  buying  more  actively.  The 
living  standard  of  the  workers  rises  to  higher  levels  with 
higher  wages.  If  the  new  standard  obtains  over  a  long 
time  it  becomes  the  established  standard.  The  higher 
the  living  standard  the  costlier  labor  power  and  the 
smaller  the  profit.  Hence  the  opposition  of  the  capitalist 
class  to  high  wages. 

For  some  years  preceding  the  war  prices  were  on 
the  rise  and  wages  ruled  low.  While  prices  of  various 
commodities,  if  not  of  all,  had  risen  considerably  it  is 
worth  noting  that  the  relationship  of  commodities  to 
one  another  remained  undisturbed — the  rates  of  price 
increase  were  about  the  same  in  all  of  them.  Their  rela- 
tionship to  gold  had  changed — it  required  more  gold  to 
exchange  with  any  of  them  aiid  more  gold  consequently 
to  express  their  relationship  to  one  another.  The  value 
of  gold  had  fallen.  While  other  commodities  exchanged 
for  an  increased  amount  of  gold,  labor  power,  on  account 
of  the  competition  between  the  laborers,  did  not  as 
readily  command  its  value,  and  labor  power  compared 
with  other  commodities  was  selling  below  its  value — 
wages  were  low.  Prices  rose  but  wages,  except  in  rare 
eases,  did  not  rise.  High  wages  were  not  responsible  for 
these  high  prices;  the  decrease  in  the  value  of  gold  was. 


80 


What  Are  "High,"  "Fair"  or  "Low"  Wages? 

We  hear  the  terms  of  ''high  wages,"  ''fair  wages" 
and  "low  wages."  What  do  we  understand  by  them? 
Things  can  be  regarded  as  "high,"  "fair"  or  "low"  only 
when  they  are  compared  with  something  else.  There 
must  be  something  standard  to  gauge  theni  by.  What 
is  it  then  that  determines  a  high  wage,  a  fair  wage  and 
a  low  wage?  The  standard  of  living  prevailing  among 
the  workers. 

When  the  wage  of  a  worker  enables  him  to  live  in 
a  manner  superior  to  the  prevailing  standard  his  wages 
are  said  to  be  "high."  When  his  wage  enables  the  work- 
er to  approximate  the  prevailing  standard,  we  say  that 
is  a  "fair"  wage.  When,  on  the  other  hand,  his  wages 
do  not  enable  him  to  reach  the  prevailing  standard  he 
is  receiving  a  "low"  wage.  The  prevailing  (historic) 
standard  of  living  is  the  wage  denominator. 

The  wage  has  three  characters:  nominal  wage,  real 
wage  and  relative  wage.  The  nominal  wage  is  the  price 
of  labor  power  stated  in  terms  of  money,  as  $2.00,  $5.00, 
or  $10.00  per  day.  The  real  wage  is  represented  by  the 
commodities  that  his  nominal  wage  will  enable  the 
worker  to  supply  himself  with.  The  relative  wage  repre- 
sents the  proportion  the  wage  he  receives  bears  to  the 
values  he  creates.  Thus  if  he  creates  $10  worth  of 
exchange  values  for  the  boss  and  receives  therefor  $2 
his  relative  wages  is  as  2:10. 


QUESTIONS 

1.  Do  the  workers'  wages  determine  the  prices  of  com- 
modities? Explain  why. 

2.  What,  on  the  average,  is  the  relation  of  price  to 
value? 

3.  Can  the  boss  repay  himself  for  an  increase  in  wages 
by  adding  the  increase  to  the  price  of  his  commo- 
dity? Why? 

4.  Will  a  decrease  in  wages  lower  prices?  Why? 

5.  How  would  you  account  for  a  temporary  rise  in 
prices  following  a  raise  in  wages? 

31 


-  / 

6.  What  have  supply  and  demand  to  do  with  price 
setting? 

7.  When  commodities  maintain  their  relationship  to  one 
another  but  their  prices  go  up,  what  has  happened? 

8.  Is  gold  the  measure  of  value  or  the  expression  of 
value? 

9.  What  are  the  three  aspects  of  wages? 

10.  When  is  the  wage  '^high/'  ^^fair^'  or  "low^'? 

11.  What  is  the  nominal  wage? 

12.  What  is  the  real  wage? 

13.  What  is  the  relative  wage? 


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CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Standard  of  Living. 

THE  exchange  value  of  labor  power  being  determined 
by  the  labor  time  necessary  to  produce  it,  it  follows 
that  this  time  is,  itself,  determined  by  the  standard 
of  living  of  the  worker.  Therefore,  if  the  standard  of 
living  is  raised  more  time  will  be  necessary  to  produce 
its  equivalent  than  formerly.  If  it  is  lowered  less  time 
will  be  required. 

As  the  time  required  is  increased  or  diminished  the 
volume  of  surplus  value  is  correspondingly  diminished 
or  increased.  Because  of  this  there  is  unceasing  strife 
between  the  workers  and  the  employers.  The  effort  of 
the  workers  is  directed  to  elevating  their  standard  of 
living,  while  the  effort  of  the  employers  is  in  the  opposite 
direction — to  oppose  a  raise  in  the  standard  and  when- 
ever possible  to  force  it  to  lower  levels.  For,  as  we  have 
seen,  higher  wages  mean  lower  profits  for  the  boss — 
defeat,  to  an  extent,  of  his  purpose.  The  boss  is  in  busi- 
ness for  profit  and  as  long  as  he  can  prevent  will  permit 
nothing  to  interfere  with  the  most  complete  fulfillment 
of  his  object. 

In  the  relationship  of  the  worker  to  his  employer 
there  are  three  features — wages,  hours  and  conditions  of 
employment — and  upon  each  of  these  the  interest  of 
the  worker  and  the  interest  of  the  employer  are  diamet- 
rically opposed.  The  boss  will  defend  the  measure  as  well 
as  the  principle  (to  him)  of  surplus  value.  His  survival 
as  employer  depends  upon  his  ability  to  do  so  success- 
fully. Surplus  value  is  the  reward  of  his  capitalist  owner- 
ship. His  success  is  measured  by  the  degree  of  exploita- 
tion to  which  he  can  force  his  employes  to  submit — the 
larger  the  volume  of  surplus  value,  the  more  successful 
his  enterprise.  He  does  not  only  want  profit  but  all  the 
profit  possible. 

If  the  worker  demands  an  increase  in  his  wages  of 

33 


$2.00  per  day,  the  boss  will  deny  and  resist  that  demand. 
The  worker  will  insist  upon  it.  An  industrial  conflict  re- 
sults. At  the  end  that  side  which  has  manifested  the 
greater  power  will  decide  whether  the  demand  is  to  be 
conceded  or  denied.  If  the  workers  have  been  able  to 
combine  themselves  to  such  a  degree  that  the  boss  is 
embarrassed  to  an  extent  where  it  is  more  profitable  to 
yield  and  grant  the  concession  than  to  continue  the  fight, 
he  does  so.  These  conflicts  are  not  settled  upon  the 
basis  of  right  or  wrong.  Their  settlement  is  always  a 
question  of  power.  ^^Victory  is  with  the  side  that  has 
the  strongest  battalions.'' 

If,  however,  the  workers  have  not  so  combined  that 
they  are  able  to  control  the  supply  of  labor,  the  employer 
will  win.  In  the  past  year  or  more,  working  groups  have 
sustained  defeat  after  defeat  until  they  are  all  more 
or  less  vanquished  and  intimidated.  The  craft  unions 
have  not  been  able  to  combine  the  workers  to  a  suffi- 
cient extent  and  as  a  result  there  has  been  an  universal 
depreciation  of  the  American  workers'  living  standard. 
This  accounts  for  the  tendency  toward  the  more  com- 
prehensive industrial  union  form  of  organization. 

Let  us  again  use  the  figure  employed  in  a  former 
talk  to  illustrate  the  significance  of  the  $2  daily  increase 
in  wages  demanded  by  the  worker. 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5  1  6 
1 

0  B 

7  1  8 

9 

10 

A 

The  indicator,  marking  the  increase,  would  be  moved 
from  the  3  hour  mark  to  the  5  hour  mark.  The  worker 
would^  now  be  paid  $5  per  day,  to  maintain  our  as- 
sumption that  his  labor  creates  an  average  of  $10  values 
in  a  ten  hour  working  day.  He  would  now,  therefore, 
be  receiving  the  equivalent  of  5  hours  of  his  working 
time,  so  that  in  the  course  of  the  working  day  only  five 
hours  of  his  working  time  would  be  devoted  to  creating 
surplus  value  for  the  boss,  where  formerly  he  had 
devoted^  seven  hours.  This  would  mean  that  the  boss 
was  losing  two  hours  of  values  every  day  which  had 
previously  accrued  to  him.  This  offers  an  unwelcome 

34 


prospect  to  him  and  one  which  he  is  not  inclined  to 
accept  resignedly.  He  is  disposed  to  fight.  But  he  must 
depend  upon  the  workers  for  the  forces  to  fight  with. 

Naturally  he  welcomes  division  in  the  ranks  of  the 
workers,  and  it  is  to  his  interest  to  see  that  the  workers 
are  kept  divided.  It  is  worth  something  to  him,  for  the 
preservation  of  his  surplus  value  depends  upon  such 
division.  A  good  deal  of  his  expense  account  goes  to  ^ 
provide  and  maintain  such  a  condition  amongst  the 
workers.  Unless  he  can  secure  workers  to  operate  his 
plant  or  to  carry  on  his  business  he,  himself,  cannot 
fight  the  workers  with  any  hope  of  success.  He  depends 
upon  the  competition  in  the  working  class  to  assist  him 
in  resisting  the  wage  and  other  demands  of  his  working 
force  or  any  part  of  them.  While  they  do  battle  among 
themselves  for  the  jobs  he  controls,  he  is  contented.  He 
never  permits  himself  to  be  disturbed  about  a  day  when 
they  will  cease  to  fight  and  will  combine  to  dethrone 
him.  He  knows  what  the  workers  must  find  out— that 
they  defeat  themselves. 

As  the  employer  must  depend  absolutely  upon  work- 
'  ing  class  division  he  strives  to  maintain  division  in  the 
ranks  of  the  workers.  He  employs  spotters  and  spies, 
he  subsidizes  news  agencies,  he  organizes  strike-breaking 
forces,  he  cultivates  national  and  racial  rivalries,  he 
fosters  everything  that  serves  to  split  the  workers. 

Perhaps,  this  will  assist  us  to  an  understanding  of 
the  unions  that  comprise  the  A.  F.  of  L.  These  unions 
have  functioned,  and  still  do,  to  keep  the  workers  di- 
vided. Control  of  these  unions  has  enabled  the  capitalists 
time  and  again  to  defeat  the  workers  and  has  been  a 
more  material  asset  to  the  employers  than  their  reserves 
of  strike-breakers,  gunmen,  etc.  These  unions  have 
broken  strike  after  strike  far  more  effectively  and  at 
no  expense  whatever  to  the  employers,  except  for  the 
(comparatively)  trifling  amounts  judiciously  distributed 
in  influential  quarters.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  in  the 
measure  of  its  service  to  the  capitalists  craft  unionism 
has  surpassed  all  other  agencies  of  capitalism.  They,  as 
organizations,  constitute  the  organized  dismemberment 
of  the  working  class.  As  long  as  they  survive,  the  elimi- 
nation of  competition  among  the  workers  is  impossible 
to  any  effective  degree.  Only  other  workers  can  defeat 


35 


striking  groups  and  the  craft  unions  are  always  on  hand 
either  to  supply  them  or  assist  them.  Whenever  workers 
are  found  in  a  struck  establishment  they  are  serving  the 
capitalist  interest.  By  this  test  is  the  craft  union  judged 
and  proved  a  capitalistic  agency  and  a  working  class 
enemy. 

The  Hours  of  Labor 

Now,  if  instead  of  a  $2  raise  in  wages  the  worker 
sought  a  decrease  of  two  hours  in  the  length  of  his 
working  day,  the  boss  would  fight  that  proposition  as 
energetically  as  he  would  a  raise  in  wages,  and  for  the 
same  reason — it  would  mean  a  decrease  in  the  volume 
of  his  surplus  value.  If  we  take  the  rectangle  we  have 
been  using  we  have  a  figure  representing  a  working  day 
of  ten  hours: 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9  1  10 

j  1 

2 

8 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

But  the  new  working  day  is  only  8  hours  and  while 
the  wage  of  the  worker  remains  the  same,  there  are  now 
two  hours  less  working  time  devoted  to  creating  values 
for  which  he  receives  no  compensation — the  boss  is 
deprived  of  the  use  of  two  hours  labor  time  that  had 
previously  accrued  to  him  in  the  form  of  surplus  values. 
This  is  a  setback  to  which  he  is  not  disposed  to  be  recon- 
ciled. He  refers  to  the  workers'  achievement  as  a  form 
of  holdup  and  claims  to  be  paying  ten  hours  pay  for 
eight  hours  work.  The  worker  is  also  inclined  to  believe 
that  the  boss'  contention  is  correct — that  he  is  now  re- 
ceiving ten  hours  pay  for  eight  hours  work.  He  is  re- 
ceiving a  higher  wage,  nominally  and  relatively.  Whether 
he  is  receiving  a  really  higher  wage  will  depend  upon 
the  purchasing  power  of  his  pay.  He  is  receiving  a 
higher  hourly  rate  and  to  that  extent  has  improved  his 
condition — he  has  raised  his  wage  7V2C  per  hour.  In- 
stead of  getting  ten  hours  pay  for  eight  hours  work, 
he  is  now  getting  paid  for  three  out  of  eight  instead 
of,  as  before,  three  hours  out  of  ten.  The  boss,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  now  able  to  appropriate  only  five  hours 


36 


out  of  the  eight  hour  day  where  he  had  been  accustomed 
to  appropriate  seven  hours  out  of  ten.  This  is  a  change 
that  the  boss  dislikes  and  which  he  does  not  propose 
to  get  used  to  if  he  can  avoid  it. 

Wages  are  not  affected  when  the  hours  of  labor 
decrease,  for  the  cost  of  producing  labor  power  (  or  the 
laborer)  for  a  day  of  eight  hours  is  as  great  as  for  a 
ten  hour  day ;  consequently  the  exchange  value  of  his 
labor  is  not  disturbed,  only  the  amount  of  surplus  value— 
the  rate  of  profit  is  lessened.  This  means  a  decided  gain 
for  the  worker  and,  just  as  decisively,  a  loss  for  the  boss. 

Reducing  the  length  of  the  working  day  also  has 
the  effect  of  providing  more  jobs  for  the  workers  and, 
to  the  extent  that  it  does  this,  it  lessens  the  competi- 
tion amon^  them.  This  result  also  is  undesired  by  the 
boss,  for  it  provides  a  more  advanced  position  from 
which  the  workers  may  launch  a  new  attack  upon  his 
surplus  value. 

To  improve  working  conditions  the  boss  must  like- 
wise forego  some  of  his  surplus  value  or  divert  it  from 
the  more  promising  prospects  of  investment.  This  he 
is  unwilling  to  do  and  another  contest  is  entered  into 
with  his  workmen.  For  the  boss  will  part  with  his  profit, 
or  any  part  of  it,  as  cheerfully  as  with  his  right  eye. 

In  the  working  place — on  the  job — the  interest  of 
the  workers  and  the  employers  are  in  perpetual  conflict. 
Between  them  there  can  be  no  peace.  The  class  war  will 
go  on  until  either  the  workers  are  subdued  or  the  bosses 
are  eliminated.  Every  gain  for  one  is  a  loss  for  the  other. 

The  interest  of  the  employers  demands  a  divided 
working  class — the  interest  of  the  workers  a  united 
working  class.  The  bosses  hate  the  I.  W.  W.  and  the 
boss'  agents  among  the  workers  also  hate  the  I.  W.  W. 
The  I.  W.  W.  stands  for  and  is  striving  to  bring  about 
working  class  unity. 

QUESTIONS 

1  What  are  the  three  points  in  the  relationship  between 
the  worker  and  employer  that  count? 

2.  Are  their  interests  identical  in  regard  to  these? 

3.  What  effect  has  a  raise  in  wages  upon  the  boss' 
profit? 

37 


4.  What  effect  would  shortening  the  workday  have  on 
the  boss'  profit  if  no  other  condition  was  changed? 

5.  Are  strikes  settled  upon  the  basis  of  right  and 
wrong?  How  are  they  settled? 

6.  Does  the  boss  want  the  workers  to  unite?  Why? 

7.  What  might  happen  if  the  working  class  was  solidly 
united? 

8.  Does  the  boss  defeat  the  workers  in  strikes?  Who 
do? 

9.  Does  the  boss  strive  to  maintain  division  among  the 
workers?  What  are  some  of  the  things  he  does? 

10.  If  the  workday  is  reduced  from  10  hours  to  8  hours, 
and  the  wage  is  not  reduced,  does  the  worker  get 
paid  for  10  hours?  Explain  what  happens. 

11.  Explain  the  importance  of  his  living  standard  to  the 
worker. 


38 


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CHAPTER  VIII. 
Piece-Work 

BESIDES  hiring  the  laborer  by  the  hour,  day  or  week 
the  capitalist  also  sometimes  employs  him  as  a 
piece-worker.  Under  the  piece-work  system  the 
worker  is  paid  at  the  rate  of  so  much  money  for  doing 
a  certain  specified  thing — for  digging  a  foot  of  ditch, 
molding  a  casting,  sawing  logs,  cutting  cordwood,  rivet- 
ting  a  foot  of  tank,  etc.,  etc.— and  fulfilling  the  require- 
ments as  to  quality  with  regard  to  the  work  done.  That 
is  to  say,  the  excavation  must  be  of  certain  dimensions, 
the  casting  must  be  perfect,,  and  so  on.  For  defective 
work  the  boss  will  not  pay,  so  the  worker  must  be  care- 
ful to  turn  out  work  that  will  at  least  escape  penalty.  For 
condemned  products  he  does  not  get  paid  at  all  and 
for  ^'culls''  he  receives  less  than  the  contract  price. 
Therefore,  he  will  take  pains  to  do  ''good  work."  The 
difference  between  the  time-worker  and  the  piece-worker 
is  that  the  former  is  paid  for  the  time  he  works,  while 
the  latter  is  paid  for  the  amount  of  his  production  ac- 
cording to  a  standard  of  quality  already  set  and  agreed 
upon. 

John  Smith,  we  will  say,  is  employed  as  a  day  laborer 
to  dig  a  ditch  at  a  daily  wage  of  $3  for  an  eight  hour 
day.  He  digs  an  average  of  two  10-foot  ''sections''  a  day, 
or  20  feet  of  ditch  for  a  day's  work. 

If  the  boss  says  to  him,  "John,  from  now  on  I  will 
pay  you  15  cents  a  foot  for  digging  this  ditch,"  and 
Smith  closes  with  the  offer.  From  that  time  on  we  are 
likely  to  hear  Smith,  unless  he  is  above  the  average, 
reason  something  like  this:  "Now,  I  am  working  for 
myself.  The  more  I  do  the  more  I  make.  So  here  goes, 
John  Smith,  for  a  big  day's  pay."  That  night  John 
measures  up  his  excavation  and  finds  he  has  dug  three 
sections  or  thirty  feet  of  ditch  and  earned  $4.50.  He 
feels  elated,  for  he  has  received  $1.50  more  than  he 


39 


has  been  receiving.  He  makes  up  his  mind  that  he  can 
do  still  more.  The  boss,  who  has  contracted  to  dig  the 
ditch  at  30  cents  per  foot,  has  increased  his  return  on 
Smith's  labor  by  an  amount  equal  to  his  laborer's  in- 
crease— he  is  now  making  $4.50  where  previously  he 
had  made  $3.00. 

But  Smith  increases  his  digging  until  finally  he 
excavates  40  feet  of  ditch  per  day,  bringing  his  daily 
wage  up  to  $6,  and  increasing  the  boss'  profit  to  a 
similar  amount.  Smith  feels  that  he  is  doing  well,  and 
the  boss  ought  to  feel  that  he  too  is  doing  very  well. 
But  it  does  not  work  out  that  way.  Though  his  own 
profit  has  doubled,  the  boss  feels  that  Smith  who  is 
drawing  twice  ^^the  going  wages  for  ditch  laborers"  is 
getting  entirely  too  much.  So  he  approaches  Smith  and 
tells  him  that  he  cannot  afford  to  continue  paying  him 
15  cents  a  foot.  He  then  offers  him  10  cents  a  foot  as 
^^the  very  best"  he  can  do.  He  will  suggest  to  Smith 
that  a  whale  of  a  digger  like  Smith  can  earn  good  money 
at  that  price.  Smith  agrees  to  the  cut  and  then  starts 
out  with  accelerated  speed  to  approximate  his  former 
earnings  at  the  new  price.  He  digs  50  feet  per  day.  He 
is  now  making  $5  per  day,  at  his  top  speed.  When 
the  boss  suggests  another  cut  Smith  is  in  humor — to 
take  a  rest.  So  the  boss  hires  Jones  at  the  ''going  wage 
for  ditch  diggers,"  but  he  insists  that  Jones  shall  dig 
each  day  approximately  35  feet  of  the  ditch — an  average 
which  Smith's  efforts  enabled  him  to  determine.  In  this 
way  the  piece-work  system  is  used  to  set  the  standard 
of  production  in  industry. 

Marx  says  of  piece-work,  ''they  (piece-wages)  fur- 
nish to  the  capitalist  an  exact  measure  for  the  intensity 
of  labor,"  and  he  adds  farther  on,  "since  the  quality  and 
intensity  of  the  work  are  here  controlled  by  the  form 
of  the  wage  itself,  superintendence  of  labor  becomes  in 
great  part  superfluous." 

While  Smith  was  digging  the  ditch  by  the  foot  he 
did  not  need  a  foreman  to  direct  or  to  urge  him.  He  set 
his  own  mark  by  determining  how  much  he  would  en- 
deavor to  do — he  was  his  own  pace-maker. 

The  piece-working  laborer  is  not  concerned  about 
the  shorter  or  longer  working  day,  for  his  wage  is  not 
determined  by  hours  but  by  products.  An  hour  or  two, 

40 


more  or  less,  is  only  incidental  to  the  amount  which  he 
has  set  himself  to  make  for  the  day's  work.  A  long 
day  or  a  shorter  day  is  only  important  when  he  has 
realized  this  amount  or  failed  to.  To,  again,  quote 
Marx:  ''Given  piece-work  it  is  naturally  the  personal 
interest  of  the  laborer  to  strain  his  labor  power  as  in- 
tensely as  possible;  this  enables  the  capitalist  to  raise 
more  easily  the  normal  degree  of  the  intensity  of  labor. 
It  is,  moreover,  now  the  personal  interest  of  the  laborer 
to  lengthen  the  working  day,  since  with  it  his  daily  o 
weekly  wages  rise.'' 

The  piece-work  system  makes  for  intensified,  un- 
remitting effort  in  the  working  place.  As  Marx  points 
out  in  another  place,  it  ''is  the  form  of  wages  most  in 
harmony  with  the  capitalist  mode  of  production." 

Often  in  the  industries  it  happens  that  capitalist 
management  will  put  processes  on  a  piece-rate  basis  so 
that  the  workers  engaged  in  these  processes  by  hurried, 
diligent  application  make  wages  far  in  excess  (com- 
paratively) of  the  wages  paid  time  laborers  on  the  same 
work.  After  careful  observation,  over  sufficiently  long 
periods,  an  average  day's  work  for  the  laborers  employed 
on  these  processes  is  worked  out,  which  these  workers 
must  approximate.  Piece-work  is  a  device  which  enables 
the  capitalists  to  determine  the  utmost  capacity  of  the 
most  capable  workers;  they  then  make  something  less 
than  that  the  standard  for  all  and  the  measure  of  com- 
petency. 

The  Bonus  System 

There  is  another  form  of  piece-work,  or,  perhaps 
better,  an  extension  of  the  piece-work  system — the  bonus 
system.  This  is  usually  an  arrangement  whereby  the 
workers  are  induced  to  greater  effort  by  paying  them 
a  "bonus"  for  production  in  excess  of  the  amount  set 
for  a  day's,  week's  or  month's  work.  Suppose,  for  in- 
stance, so  many  feet  are  set  for  a  month's  work  for  a 
miner.  If  he  drives  a  greater  number  of  feet  he  is  paid 
so  much  per  foot  for  the  number  of  feet  by  which  he 
exceeds  that  standard.  If  the  miners  are  influenced  by 
this  system  they  soon  find  that  they  have  increased  the 
number  of  feet  they  must  drive  in  stope  or  raise  in  a 
month.  It  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  an  attempt  to 
speed  up  the  workers.  If  they  "fall"  for  it  they  have 
to  work  harder  to  hold  the  job  than  they  had  to  before. 

41 


Profit-Sharing ;  Stock-Buying 

Profit-sharing  and  stock-buying  propositions  are  also 
schemes  to  induce  the  workers  to  apply  themselves  more 
diligently  and  intensely  in  the  working  place.  These 
usually  depend  upon  terms  of  continuous  employment. 
Besides  the  speeding  up  which  these  proposals  are  in- 
tended to  develop  they  are  intended  as  well  to  act  as 
preventatives  of  a  labor  turnover.  The  labor  turnover  is 
proven  by  capitalist  experience  to  be  the  most  costly 
item  in  the  operation  of  industry.  Get  that — the  chang- 
ing of  only  part  of  the  personnel  of  a  working  force  is 
the  most  expensive  item  in  the  operation  of  large  indus- 
tries. It  is  important  that  the  workers  be  made  to  realize 
that  the  complex  character  of  the  working  force  in 
modern  industry  is  the  capitalists'  weakest  point.  The 
capitalists  must  strive  all  the  time  to  keep  this  force 
divided.  If  they  can  do  this,  they  are  safe.  Whenever 
they  cannot,  they  are  lost.  If  the  working  force  of  a 
modern  industry  were  thoroughly  organized  so  that  they 
could  act  as  a  unit  and  withdraw  their  labor  power  it 
would  be  impossible  to  replace  them  at  will.  It  would 
take  years  to  do  so.  Here  is  where  the  craft  unions 
especially  prove  their  usefulness  to  the  capitalists.  They 
function  to  prevent  this. 

Family  Pressure 

Side  by  side  with  profit-sharing  and  stock  schemes 
runs  the  policy  of  manning  key  processes  with  men  of 
family.  It  is  becoming  a  fixed  policy  of  big  industrial 
enterprises  to  man  their  industrial  establishments  with 
married  men  whose  sense  of  responsibility  will  make 
them  docile  and  submissive  and  whose  individual  power 
of  resistance  is  less  than  would  be  that  of  unmarried 
men.  Profit-sharing,  stock-buying,  home-building,  and 
all  other  such  schemes  have  for  their  object  the  tying 
of  the  working  force  to  their  jobs,  more  particularly 
those  in  the  "key"  labor  classifications.  Imagine  a 
worker  in  the  Standard  Oil  refinery  at  Whiting,  Indiana, 
who  has  had  the  "privilege"  of  buying  a  share  or  two 
of  stock  as  a  "reward  for  faithful  service,"  feeling  him- 
self equally  interested  in  and  benefiting  by  Standard 
Oil  as  does  John  D.  Rockefeller.  Such  workers  are  to 


42 


the  capitalists  what  the  ''capper''  and  the  ''come-on" 
used  to  be  to  the  gamblers  who  infested  the  county  fairs 
and  "cleaned  up"  on  the  rustics  when  the  circus  was  in 
town.    They  betray  their  fellows  without  benefitting 
from  their  betrayal. 

A  wise  working  class  movement  will  educate  its 
membership  to  the  purpose  underlying  and  inspiring 
these  wily  schemes  of  the  capitalists  and  will  eternally 
drive  for  that  unity  which  will  enable  the  workers  to 
solve  the  problems  that  only  the  workers  can  solve,  and 
they  only  when  they  have  first  achieved  solidarity  as 
workers — in  a  working  class  union. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  is  the  difference  between  piece-work  and  day- 
work? 

2.  Which  is  the  more  desirable  for  the  boss? 

3.  Does  the  piece-worker  strive  for  a  shorter  workday? 
Why? 

4.  Does  the  piece-worker  work  harder  than  the  day- 
worker?  Why? 

5.  What  is  the  bonus  system?  How  does  it  affect  the 
worker? 

6.  What  advantages  does  piece-work  give  the  boss? 

7.  What  is  the  object  of  profit-sharing,  stock  sales 
and  home  building  schemes? 

8.  Why  are  married  men  preferred  to  single  men  in 
large  industries? 

9.  What  is  the  boss'  weakest  point? 

10.  Is  this  why  he  fears  industrial  unionism?  Explain. 

11.  What  is  the  most  expensive  item  in  modern  in- 
dustry? Explain. 


43 


iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiy^ 


CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Origin  of  New  Capital 

HOW  does  new  capital  come  into  existence?  This  is 
a  question  of  some  importance  and  deserves  brief 
explanation.  We  have  seen  that  the  relationship 
existing  between  the  wage  worker  and  the  employer  en- 
titles the  employer  to  the  products  of  the  working  pro- 
cess. These  products  contain  a  surplus  of  values.  It  is 
out  of  this  surplus  that  new  capital  originates. 

When  a  capitalist  decides  upon  an  industrial  under- 
taking he  calls  in  someone  who  is  familiar  with  the  busi- 
ness in  which  he  wishes  to  engage,  for  it  is  not  at  all 
necessary  for  the  capitalist  to  know  anything  at  all 
about  the  business.  From  manager  to  floor  sweeper  all 
active  participants  are  employes.  Under  the  direction 
of  the  man  who  does  know,  buildings  are  erected  and 
equipped  with  the  machinery  suited  to  the  carrying  on 
of  whatever  manufacturing  has  been  decided  upon. 
There  is,  as  well,  provision  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
machinery — oil,  waste,  wrenches,  screws,  bolts,  etc.  A 
supply  of  raw  materials  is  also  laid  in.  The  plant  now 
only  needs  labor  power.  The  man  in  charge  goes  into 
the  labor  market,  usually  by  hanging  out  a  sign  *'Help 
Wanted,"  for  the  various  kinds  of  labor  needed.  He 
finds  it,  usually  without  difficulty,  labelled  according  to 
its  kind  and  wearing  its  price  tag.  He  selects  the  most 
promising  of  each  kind,  and  assembles  and  organizes 
the  working  force.  This  completes  his  preparation.  The 
plant  is  now  ready  to  begin  operations. 

We  have  already  seen  how  the  working  process  re- 
sults in  the  production  of  surplus  value,  and  how  normal 
profit  is  realized  from  this  source  in  the  process  of  ex- 
change. The  time  factor,  we  have  also  learned,  is  the 
basis  of  exchange.  But  with  the  capitalist  "Time  is 
money."  So  before  going  into  the  market  the  capitalist 
figures  the  money  cost  of  his  commodity.  Says  Marx: 

44 


'The  very  conditions  of  bourgeois  existence  compel  it 
to  keep  careful  accounts." 

So  we  find  the  boss  has  very  carefully  figured  out 
the  average  deterioration  of  machinery,  per  each  indi- 
vidual commodity;  the  fuel  or  power  cost;  the  oil  cost, 
waste  material,  etc.  together  with  the  labor  wage  cost. 
He  therefore  knows  to  the  fraction  of  a  penny  what 
every  article  cost  him  to  produce.  He  regards  this  as 
his  zero.  His  condition  of  existence  as  a  boss  requires 
that  he  sell  above  this  figure. 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  capitalist  has  figured  the  cost 
of  an  article  to  be  $5,  made  up  as  follows: 


If  he  sells  at  $5  he  has  made  no  profit.  If  he  sells  for 
less  than  $5  he  sustains  a  loss,  and  he  is  not  in  business 
to  lose  or  to  just  keep  even.  He  is  in  business  to  make 
profit.  He  will,  therefore,  withhold  his  commodity  as 
long  as  he  can  afford  to  before  he  will  sell  it  for  less 
than  it  cost,  or  at  its  cost  price.  He  does  not  have  to, 
ordinarily,  for  it  sells  at  a  price  approximating  its  value. 
He  sells  it  for  about  $10,  and  makes  $5  above  its  money 
cost  of  production.  The  overhead  allowance  has  been 
carefully  calculated  and  the  cost  of  the  raw  material  is 
fixed  by  the  cost  of  the  amount  used.  These  together 
total  $3,  and  that  is  all  of  the  $10  they  can  be  made  to 
account  for.  Then  a  profit  of  $5  has  been  made  off  the 
labor  of  the  workers.  There  is  no  other  place  from 
which  it  could  come.  And  this,  indeed,  is  the  only  source 
of  profit.  But,  as  the  plant  turns  out  very  many  com- 
modities every  day,  $5  multiplied  by  the  number  turned 
out  gives  the  amount  of  the  profit  for  each  day.  After 
the  capitalist  has  provided  for  himself  and  his  family, 
as  becomes  a  man  of  his  station,  there  is  still  a  surplus 
left.  This  surplus  is  transformed  into  new  capital,  where 
it  becomes  instrumental  in  adding  to  the  capitalist's 
volume  of  surplus  value,  to  be  again  and  again  trans- 
formed into  more  new  capital.  As  Marx  makes  apt 
comment :  ''With  a  given  degree  of  exploitation  of  labor 


All  overhead 
Raw  material 
Wages   


$1.50 
1.50 
2.00 


$5.00 


45 


power,  the  mass  of  the  surplus  value  produced  is  deter- 
mined by  the  number  of  workers  simultaneously  ex- 
ploited; and  this  corresponds,  although  in  varying  pro- 
portions, with  the  magnitude  of  the  capital.  The  more, 
therefore,  capital  increases  by  means  of  successive  ac- 
cumulations, the  more  does  the  sum  of  the  surplus  value 
increase/' 

Accumulation  of  Capital 

The  different  aspects  of  the  laborer's  wages  have 
a  bearing  upon  the  accumulation  of  new  capital.  If 
there  is  a  rise  simultaneously  of  the  nominal,  real  and 
relative  wages  there  will  necessarily  be  a  fall  in  the 
general  rate  of  profit,  and,  to  the  extent  that  this  is 
so,  will  there  be  a  curtailment  of  the  volume  of  surplus 
value  available  for  new  capital. 

But  it  can  happen  that  the  nominal  (money)  wage 
would  rise,  and  that  the  real  (commodity)  wage  would 
also  rise,  while  the  relative  wage  would,  at  the  same 
time,  decline.  ^'If,''  as  Marx  puts  it,  ''when  trade  is 
good,  wages  rise  five  per  cent,  and  profits  on  the  other 
hand  rise  thirty  per  cent,  then  the  proportional  or  rela- 
tive wage  has  not  increased  but  declined." 

For  instance,  if  the  commodity,  which  has  been 
selling  for  $10,  sells  at  an  increase  of  thirty  per  cent  on 
the  profit,  which  was  $5,  it  would  sell  for  $11.50.  The 
wages  which  were  $2  with  a  five  per  cent  raise  would 
be  $2.10.  The  cost  would  be  $5.10  and  the  profit  $6.40. 
The  relative  wage  would  have  declined  from  2:5  to 
1:3,  and  would  now  only  be  5/6  of  what  it  was. 

Says  Marx:  ''An  important  factor  in  the  accumula- 
tion of  capital  is  the  degree  of  the  productivity  of  social 
labor. 

"With  the  productive  power  of  labor  increases  the 
mass  of  the  products,  in  which  a  certain  value,  and, 
therefore,  a  surplus  value  of  a  given  magnitude  is  em- 
bodied. The  rate  of  the  surplus  value  remaining  the 
same  or  even  falling,  so  long  as  it  only  falls  more  slowly, 
than  the  productive  power  of  labor  rises,  the  mass  of 
the  surplus-product  increases . . .  But  hand  in  hand  with 
the  increasing  productivity  of  labor  goes  the  cheapening 
of  the  laborer,  therefore,  a  higher  rate  of  surplus  value, 


46 


even  when  real  wages  are  rising.  The  latter  never  rises 
proportionately  to  the  productive  power  of  the  laborer." 

The  evident  truth  of  this  statement  by  Marx  is 
brought  home  to  us  by  the  fact  that  notwithstanding  the 
great  increase  in  the  productivity  of  the  individual 
workman,  and,  therefore,  of  the  entire  working  class, 
due  to  the  greater  employment  of  machines  in  produc- 
tion and  their  ever-increasing  efficiency  their  lot  is  rela- 
tively worse,  in  the  social  sense,  than  when  their  labor 
was  far  less  productive.  As  labor  productivity  increases 
labor  security  diminishes. 

The  Migratory  Worker 

Take  the  farm  laborer,  and  his  case  is  typical  of 
the  working  class  condition,  who,  when  the  tools  used 
in  farming  were  far  less  productive  than  those  now 
used,  was  able  to  command  employment  the  year  round, 
to  marry  and  to  enjoy  something  approaching  a  home 
life.  He  had  more  assurance  of  permanency  of  loca- 
tion because  of  steadier  employment.  Today  he  is  a 
migratory  worker,  casually  employed  in  agriculture  and 
other  industries,  usually  unmarried  and  homeless.  Yet 
he  is  by  far  a  more  productive  worker  than  the  farm 
laborer  of  the  days  of  the  cradle  and  hand-binding, 
the  flail  and  the  horse-power  threshing  machine.  He  has 
less  security  when  he  works  with  a  tractor-drawn  plow 
that  turns  twenty-five  or  thirty  acres  than  when  he 
plowed  with  a  ^'foot-burner''  (one  mould-board  plow) 
and  turned  two  or  two  and  one-half  acres  per  day. 
The  relative  wage  of  the  farm  worker  has  declined 
greatly.  The  decline  in  the  relative  wage  of  the  factory 
worker  is  even  greater,  for  the  advance  in  the  machinery 
of  manufacturing  industry  is  far  and  away  ahead  of 
the  machinery  of  agriculture. 

To  state  the  nominal  wage  of  today  in  comparison 
with  the  nominal  wage  of  decades  back  and  attempt  to 
prove  that  the  worker  is  better  paid  now  than  he  was 
at  that  time,  is  to  overlook  the  social  advantages  that 
have  resulted  from  the  workers'  increased  productivity, 
and  from  which  the  workers  have  not  benefitted,  at 
least  not  proportionately.  Even  were  the  real  wage  of 
today  a  gain  comparable  to  the  gain  in  the  nominal 
wage  the  relative  wage  would  still  have  declined,  for 

47 


as  the  volume  of  capital  becomes  greater  the  volume  of 
surplus  value  must  increase,  and  as  the  volume  of  sur- 
plus value  increases  so  does  the  discrepancy  between 
the  purchasing  power  of  the  workers  and  the  measure 
of  the  increased  volume  of  surplus  products.  The  work- 
ing class  is  able  to  buy  back  less  and  less  of  its  produc- 
tion. 

Capital  and  Investment 

Idle  capital  lies  fallow.  It  insists  upon  investment, 
and  its  owners  will  seek  the  conditions  for  its  employ- 
ment. This  urge  of  capital  is  responsible  for  the  im- 
perialistic tendency  of  modern  capitalist  governments. 
So  when  we  observe  a  change  in  the  international  poli- 
tical conduct  of  the  American  government,  if  we  seek 
out  the  reason  underlying  and  inspiring  this  radical 
departure,  we  will  discover  that  it  is  due  to  the  need 
of  our  capitalist  class  to  find  territory  in  which 
to  invest  their  idle  capital.  This  will  account  for  the 
changed  foreign  policy  of  the  state  department;  this 
is  why  the  government  is  seeking  "a  square  deal"  for 
China  and  projecting  itself  into  the  affairs  of  other 
nations.  So  great  has  been  the  volume  of  American 
surplus  value  that  the  United  States  has  become  the 
world's  foremost  creditor  nation.  Out  of  the  labor  of 
American  working-men  and  women  has  her  importance 
grown.  To  say  that  our  capitalists  are  smarter  than  the 
capitalists  of  other  countries  is  to  give  them  credit  for 
something  that  is  not  true.  They  are  greater  exploiters 
of  the  American  working  class  than  the  other  capi- 
talists are  of  their  nationals.  Remember  there  is  nothing 
of  value  in  this  country,  or  in  the  world,  except  what 
labor  has  produced.  That  part  of  the  products  of  Amer- 
ican labor  for  which  the  American  capitalists  gave  Amer- 
ican workers  no  equivalent  is  greater  than  in  any  other 
country  in  the  world. 

American  Labor  Poorest  Paid 

The  American  workman  is  relatively  the  lowest  paid 
workman  in  the  world.  This  country,  with  the  highest 
nominal  and  the  highest  real  wage  of  any  country  in 
the  world,  pays  the  lowest  relative  wage  of  any  country 
on  the  globe.  The  American  worker  gets  less  of  the 


48 


values  he  creates  than  any  other  worker  in  the  whole 
wide  world.  This  is  why  the  American  section  of  the 
capitalist  class  is  the  richest  in  the  world.  So  rich  that 
it  now  wants  to  annex  the  rest  of  the  world  to  exploit 
the  workers  in  the  other  countries.  If  a  war  comes 
between  America  and  Japan,  it  will  not  be  over  Japanese 
in  California,  but  over  Japanese  investments  in  China, 
Corea,  or  Siberia,  or  wherever  else  they  come  into  con- 
flict with  the  investments  of  American  capitalists. 

The  idea  that  our  capitalists  among  themselves,  or 
in  a  contest  with  foreign  capitalists,  make  profit  is  a 
delusion.  Only  out  of  wage  labor  can  profit  be  made. 

Suppose  that  five  persons  sit  into  a  poker  game  with 
$10,000  apiece.  At  the  end  of  a  night's  play  one  man 
has  ^^cleaned  up"  the  other  four.  Four  men  are  broke 
and  one  has  $50,000,  but  there  is  not  $1  more  than  there 
was  at  the  beginning  of  the  game.  Now,  had  these  play- 
ers been  a  night  force  at  work  in  some  industry,  at  the 
end  of  the  shift  there  would  be  more  wealth  than  at 
its  beginning  and  consequently  more  profit.  Whether 
the  capitalist  dissipates,  loses  in  business  deals,  or  in- 
vests his  surplus  as  new  capital  is  not  the  point — it  is 
that  profit  has  its  only  source  in  surplus  value  wrung 
from  wage  labor — surplus  value  is  the  modern  source 
of  new  capital. 

When  the  Amalgamated  Copper  Co.  was  promoted 
there  was  a  story  to  the  effect  that  $36,000,000  profits 
were  made  over  night.  What  happened  was  that  those 
who  financed  the  deal  believed  that  the  holdings  of- 
fered a  good  prospect  for  paying  more  than  the  current 
rate  of  profit  upon  their  investment — the  copper  pro- 
perties would  enable  them  to  exploit  the  wage  workers 
to  the  amount  of  that  capitalization.  That  $36,000,000 
was  not  profit;  it  was  part  of  the  price  paid  for  the 
privilege  of  exploiting  the  slaves  in  the  holdings  which 
were  purchased.  Dan  Ryan,  Con  Kelly  and  their  tribe 
have  since  been  driving  to  make  good  on  that  judg- 
ment and  have  provoked  two  costly  rebellions  in  the 
process. 


49 


What  Capital  Is 

Capital  is  wealth  in  any  form  used  for  the  exploi- 
tation of  wage  labor,  and,  is  itself,  derived  from  the  ex- 
ploitation of  the  labor  it  employs.  Capital — surplus  value, 
more  capital,  more  surplus  value  and  so  on.  A  vicious 
circle  of  exploitation  that  leaves  the  workers  ever 
weaker  and  more  and  more  helpless. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  From  what  source  is  new  capital  derived? 

2.  What  relation  has  the  relative  wage  to  new  capital? 

3.  Explain  how  the  nominal  and  real  wages  can  rise 
while  the  relative  wages  declines  at  the  same  time. 

4.  What  relation  has  increased  productiveness  to  the 
situation  of  the  wage  workers? 

5.  Explain  question  4  by  citing  a  farm  worker,  or  some 
other  laborer. 

6.  If  the  worker  received  $3  per  day  in  1914  and  is 
now  receiving  $4,  has  his  wage  risen?  Why? 

7.  What  relation  does  the  wage  of  the  American  work- 
er bear  to  that  of  the  workers  of  other  countries, 
(a)  nominal,  (b)  real,  and  (c)  relative? 

8.  What  has  new  capital  to  do  with  the  foreign  policy 
of  the  government? 

9.  Do  capitalists  make  profit  out  of  each  other?  Why 
not? 

10.  What  would  be  the  result  to  the  workers  if  the 
source  of  new  capital — surplus  value — was  les- 
sened? 


50 


iilillilllilllll! 


illllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll! 


Illllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  Market  Law 

THERE  is  a  widespread  belief  that  so-called  mono- 
polies can  and  do  raise  the  prices  of  their  commodi- 
ties at  will;  that  John  D.  Rockefeller,  for  instance, 
recoups  himself  for  some  of  his  charitable  outlays  by- 
raising  the  price  of  kerosene  or  gasoline.  If  we  stop  to 
think  about  it,  John  D.  might  just  as  well  defer  making 
the  donation  until  he  had  first  collected  the  toll  which  he 
is  alleged  to  have  power  to  levy.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
there  need  necessarily  be  no  more  connection  between 
Rockefeller's  philanthropy  and  a  raise  in  the  price  of 
Standard  Oil  products  than  a  striking  coincidence. 

Panics 

Admittedly,  John  D.  has  great  power,  very  much 
too  great,  but  his  power  is  not  great  enough  to  set  aside 
the  laws  of  the  market.  While  Standard  Oil  is  striving 
to  become,  it  is  yet  far  from  being  an  absolute  and  com- 
plete monopoly;  nor  is  there  yet  a  monopolized  condi- 
tion in  anything.  The  extent  to  which  vast  combina- 
tions of  capital,  like  the  Standard  Oil,  have  been  formed, 
results  not  from  bucking,  or  trying  to  buck  the  laws 
of  the  market,  but  from  strictly  observing  its  laws  and 
being  governed  by  them. 

When  it  is  assumed  or  asserted  that  the  will  of  the 
corporations  is  superior  to  and  disregardful  of  the  laws 
of  the  market,  so  that  it  can  and  does  dictate  the  prices 
of  commodities,  there  is  no  ground  upon  which  to  base 
the  assumption  or  assertion.  These  corporations,  like 
all  others  who  enter  the  market,  do  not  dictate  to  the 
market  but  are  dictated  to  by  the  market.  They  are 
the  logical  fruit  of  capitalist  experience  in  the  market, 
built  up  to  accord  with  its  laws  and  not  in  defiance  of 
them. 

51 


In  the  early  days  of  the  capitalist  system,  when  un- 
restricted competition  was  the  rule  and  before  the  ne- 
cessity for  gauging  the  capacity  of  the  market  was  un- 
derstood or  the  means  for  doing  so  had  yet  been  de- 
veloped, each  individual  manufacturing  concern  was 
impelled  by  an  ambition  to  secure  for  itself  as  large  a 
slice  of  the  market  as  possible.  Each  manufacturer  went 
ahead  with  production  without  regard  to  the  others  in 
the  same  line,  who  did  likewise — all  impelled  by  the 
same  motive.  The  inevitable  result  was  that  the  market 
became  so  congested,  periodically,  that  these  manufac- 
turers were  compelled  to  slow  down  production  or  to 
shut  down  their  plants  entirely. 

Many  of  them  were  unable  to  wait  until  the  market 
had  again  become  normal  and  could  absorb  their  pro- 
ducts. They  were  pressed  by  their  individual  and  im- 
mediate needs,  for  they  were  operating  on  a  very  narrow 
margin  of  capital,  while,  indeed,  some  of  them  had  no 
margin  whatever  and  were  compelled  to  realize  upon 
their  production,  even  though  it  meant  great  sacrifice 
to  do  so.  ^^Necessity  knows  no  law,'^  not  even  market 
laws.  So,  in  the  ensuing  competition  to  raise  sorely 
needed  revenue,  values  and  surplus  values  were  lost 
sight  of  and  commodity  prices  were  lowered  even  far 
below  the  actual  cost  of  production  to  the  capitalists. 
These  were  truly  times  of  ''sacrifice  sales."  Many  of  the 
capitalists  were  bankrupted  and  dropped  into  the  ranks 
of  the  wage  earners. 

The  Lesson 

Each  of  these  periods  furnished  an  object  lesson  to 
the  surviving  capitalists.  They  learned  that  competition 
was  not  the  life  of  capitalist  trade  but  a  dangerous  death- 
dealing  condition  which  it  were  well  to  remedy.  These 
experiences  were  not  lost  upon  them  and  they  proceeded 
to  eliminate  competition  among  themselves  to  as  great 
an  extent  as  possible.  We  find  that  following  these  pe- 
riods, there  was  reorganization  and  rearrangement  which 
enabled  the  newer  and  stronger  forms  of  capitalist  pro- 
perty to  better  withstand  the  adversities  due  to  the  re- 
curring periods  when  the  market  is  congested,  which 
will  be  so  long  as  surplus  value  is  wrung  from  the  labor 
of  the  wage-working  class.  Moreover,  these  more  capable 

52 


forms  were  able  to  win  advantage  from  the  difficulties 
of  the  weaker  capitalists  during  panicky  times. 

As  these  property  forms  grew  in  scope  and  magnitude 
they  found  it  advisable  to  divide  their  system  of  manage- 
ment. Departmental  spheres  were  instituted  which  con- 
ducted necessarily  closely-related  processes,  and,  among 
others,  one  was  organized  whose  function  is  to  survey 
the  world's  commercial  outlook  and  to  collect  such  data 
as  will  serve  to  guide  the  enterprise  so  that  the  supply 
of  the  commodities  in  which  it  deals  will  always  ap- 
proximate the  demand  for  them.  It  is  an  attempt  to 
balance  supply  and  demand  in  the  market. 

This  move  on  the  part  of  the  larger  capitalists  pointed 
the  way  to  the  rest  of  the  capitalists,  and,  as  it  was  too 
expensive  a  proposition  for  most  of  them  to  undertake 
individually,  they  commandeered  their  national  organ, 
the  government,  and  the  United  States  consular  service 
was  brought  into  existence. 

Consular  Service  Aid 

Through  the  consular  service  of  the  government  our 
manufacturers  are  supplied  with  information  as  to  where 
in  the  world  this,  that  or  the  other  commodity  is  needed 
and  about  how  much.  They  are  also  made  aware  what 
the  capitalists  of  other  countries  are  doing  in  relation 
to  outside  and  home  markets,  and  consequently  they 
are  in  a  much  more  favorable  position  to  participate  in 
world  trade  than  were  the  capitalists  of  an  earlier  day. 
The  manufacturers  of  today  are  better  equipped  to  es- 
timate the  capacity  of  the  market  and  to  regulate  supply 
to  approximate  demand.  This  enables  them  to  sell  their 
commodities  at  their  real  value  or  near  it. 

If  the  will  of  Standard  Oil,  or  any  other  capitalist 
concern,  could  override  the  laws  of  the  market,  the 
market  would,  automatically,  be  destroyed — there  would 
be  no  market.  The  condition  for  a  revolution  would  be, 
by  that  very  fact,  established.  There  would  be  no  other 
way  out,  for  there  would  exist  a  power  whose  will  was 
subject  to  no  check  or  restraint.  The  autocracy  to  which 
capitalist  ambition  aspires  would  then  be  already  rea- 
lized. That  not  only  is  not  so,  but  is  destined  never  to 
be  so.  There  is  the  social  law  whose  decrees  are  im- 
mutable which  will  operate  to  prevent  this  consummation. 


53 


One  Regulator 

But  suppose  John  D.  did  take  the  notion  to  raise  the 
price  of  oil  arbitrarily,  could  he  do  it?  John  D.  is  in  \ 
business  for  profit.  The  amount  of  his  profit  depends 
largely  upon  the  volume  of  his  sales.  If  he  raises  the 
price  of  his  oil  or  gasoline  above  its  value,  sales  will  fall 
off.  When  oil  is  cheap  those  who  use  kerosene  will  start 
the  fire  in  the  morning  or  evening  with  a  cup  of  oil; 
they  are  not  so  particular  about  burning  the  lamp  an 
hour  or  so  longer  in  the  evening.  But  let  it  go  up  in 
price,  then  they  are  inclined  to  husband  their  supply. 
When  we  consider  the  great  numbers  who  use  oil  we 
will  see  that  a  very  little  saving  by  each  of  them  will,  1 
in  the  aggregate,  cause  a  severe  cut  in  the  amount  of 
John  D.'s  sales.  If  through  a  mistaken  idea  John  D. 
were  to  raise  his  price  still  higher,  instead  of  burning 
oil  many  of  his  customers  would  turn  to  other  illuminants 
— candles  for  instance.  John  D.  knows  that  he  does  not 
gain  by  lessening  the  number  of  his  customers  but  by 
increasing  them.  If  he  raises  the  price  of  gasoline,  many 
who  now  use  cars  would  use  them  less,  and  if  the  price 
went  too  high  they  would  lay  them  away  in  the  garage 
and  use  a  street  car  or  walk.  It  is  not  good  business 
policy  to  force  anything  of  this  kind  and  good  business 
men,  like  John  D.  do  not  do  it. 

Then,  there  is  always  idle  capital  seeking  investment. 
When  opportunity  offers  it  is  ready  to  go  into  competition 
with  invested  capital,  and  so  serves  as  a  check  and  en- 
forces the  market  laws  upon  those  who  would  disobey  . 
them.  Not  that  it  is  inspired  by  any  motive  of  compelling 
obedience  to  these  laws,  but  is  seeking  an  opportunity 
to  get  itself  profitably  invested. 

The  Workers'  Lesson 

What  we,  of  the  working  class,  should  be  particularly 
interested  in  about  these  corporations  are  the  changes 
they  have  made  in  industry,  and  the  need  for  organiza- 
tion, which  these  changes  emphasize,  in  order  to  safe- 
guard our  interests  as  workers. 

They  have  brought  about  an  arrangement  in  industry 
whereby  things  are  produced  with  a  minimum  expendi- 
ture of  human  energy.  The  advance  made  in  productive 

54 


industry,  as  a  result  of  their  methodical  improvement, 
proves  disastrous  to  us  only  because  we  have  not  or- 
ganized ourselves  so  as  to  take  advantage  of  it.  As  less 
energy  is  required  in  production  the  demand  for  laborers 
decreases,  because  without  organization  we  are  unable 
to  claim  for  ourselves  any  share  in  advantages  that  would 
be  impossible  without  us.  The  results  of  tool  improve- 
ment and  time-saving  arrangements  all  go  to  the  em- 
ployers, and  as  the  measure  of  their  benefits  increases 
so  does  the  volume  of  our  misery  also  increase.  Instead 
of  organizing  to  reap  benefit  from  machinery  we  have 
remained  unorganized,  until  in  place  of  working  less 
hours  and  being  more  comfortably  conditioned,  we  work 
longer  hours  when  we  are  working,  or  that  part  of  us 
which  is  working,  and  there  is  an  increasing  number  of 
us  who  are  permanently  condemned  to  idleness  and  want. 

Shorter  Workday 

The  first  and  prime  need  of  the  workers  is  to  lower 
the  hours  in  the  working  day,  in  an  attempt  to  lift  the 
millions  of  permanently  unemployed  out  of  the  slough 
of  idleness  and  furnish  them  with  an  opportunity  to 
provide  themselves  with  the  means  of  life.  There  should 
be  a  national  movement  by  all  the  workers  to  secure  a 
universal  eight  hour  day. 

If  the  eight  hour  day  will  not  suflSce  to  bring  se- 
curity to  the  workers  we  must  push  on  for  further  limi- 
tations. We  owe  no  apology  to  the  capitalists,  nor  to 
anybody  else  for  insisting  that  the  very  first  charge 
against  industry  is  provision  for  and  the  security  of 
those  who  are  necessary  to  and  who  carry  on  its  opera- 
tions. 

The  1.  W.  W. 

The  capitalist  system  must  be  replaced  by  a  system 
which  will  recognize  in  industry  a  means  through  which 
social  wants  and  comforts  are  provided.  To  accomplish 
this  is  the  mission  of  the  working  class.  This  idea  domi- 
nated a  gathering  of  American  workers  in  Chicago  in 
1905.  These  men  and  women  were  not  only  workers  in 
the  industries,  but  also  students  of  labor  history  as  well. 
They  adopted  a  declaration  of  principles  and  founded 
an  organization  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  bring  into 


55 


existence  a  social  system  in  which  the  workers  would 
administer  the  affairs  of  society.  The  organization  they 
launched  conforms  to  the  capitalist  arrangement  in  in- 
dustry and  they  breathed  into  it  the  spirit  of  the  working 
class. 

That  organization  is  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the 
World.  It  has  bid  for  the  attention  of  the  working  class 
and  won  the  hostility  of  the  capitalists  and  of  every 
flunkey  and  lickspittle  that  wears  the  livery  of  capi- 
talism, from  Judge  Gary  to  the  last  small  fry  official  of 
the  craft  unions  who  flaunts  the  badge  of  labor  only  to 
betray  the  workers. 

Thousands  of  I.  W.  W.  members  have  gone  to  jail 
and  been  done  to  death,  legally  and  otherwise,  for 
preaching  the  doctrine  of  labor  salvation.  That  or- 
ganization is  the  most  feared  and  worst  hated  union  in 
the  world.  That  it  is,  is  its  highest  recommendation  to 
the  workers  of  the  United  States.  When  men  dare  the 
persecution  that  has  been  endured  by  the  I.  W.  W.,  they 
have  furnished  a  reason  why  the  cause  they  advocate 
and  the  philosophy  that  strengthens  them  should  be  in- 
vestigated by  the  workers. 

Here  is  their  declaration  of  principles: 

The  working  class  and  the  employing  class  have 
nothing  in  common.  There  can  be  no  peace  so  long 
as  hunger  and  want  are  found  among  millions  of 
working  people  and  the  few,  who  make  up  the 
employing  class,  have  all  the  good  things  of  life. 

Between  these  two  classes  a  struggle  must  go  on 
until  the  workers  of  the  world  organize  as  a  class, 
take  possession  of  the  earth  and  the  machinery  of 
production,  and  abolish  the  wage  system. 

We  find  that  the  centering  of  management  of 
the  industries  into  fewer  and  fewer  hands  makes 
the  trade  unions  unable  to  cope  with  the  ever 
growing  power  of  the  employing  class.  The  trade 
unions  foster  a  state  of  affairs  which  allows  one 
set  of  workers  to  be  pitted  against  another  set  of 
workers  in  the  same  industry,  thereby  helping  defeat 
one  another  in  wage  wars.  Moreover,  the  trade 
unions  aid  the  employing  class  to  mislead  the  work- 
ers into  the  belief  that  the  working  class  have 
interests  in  common  with  their  employers. 


56 


These  conditions  can  be  changed  and  the  in- 
terest of  the  working  class  upheld  only  by  an  or- 
ganization formed  in  such  a  way  that  all  its  mem- 
bers in  any  one  industry,  or  in  all  industries  if 
necessary,  cease  work  whenever  a  strike  or  lockout 
is  on  in  any  department  thereof,  thus  making  an 
injury  to  one  an  injury  to  all. 

Instead  of  the  conservative  motto,  "A  fair  day's 
wage  for  a  fair  day's  work,"  we  must  inscribe  on 
our  baner  the  revolutionary  watchword,  "Abolition 
of  the  wage  system." 

It  is  the  historic  mission  of  the  working  class  to 
do  away  with  capitalism.  The  army  of  production 
must  be  organized,  not  only  for  the  every-day 
struggle  with  capitalists,  but  also  to  carry  on  pro- 
duction when  capitalism  shall  have  been  over- 
thrown. By  organizing  industrially  we  are  forming 
the  structure  of  the  new  society  within  the  shell  of 
the  old. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Can  Standard  Oil  dictate  the  price  of  oil? 

2.  What  result  has  an  overstocked  market  on  prices? 
8.  What  did  the  capitalists  learn  from  panics? 

4.  What  relation  has  the  government  consular  service 
to  American  industry? 

5.  Why  would  the  market  be  destroyed  if  the  will  of 
the  capitalists  could  determine  prices? 

6.  Do  you  know  any  factor  that  might  serve  to  in- 
fluence prices? 

7.  What  effect  would  a  refusal  to  buy  or  to  buy  as 
much  as  formerly  have  on  prices?  Why? 

8.  In  what  way  does  idle  capital  influence  prices? 

9.  What  particular  lesson  has  trustified  property  for 
wage  laborers. 

10.  When  was  the  I.  W.  W.  formed? 

11.  What  are  the  principles  of  the  I.  W.  W.? 

12.  Why  is  the  I.  W.  W.  hated? 


57 


Illllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!l!l!i!!!ll!il!illll!i!!!llll^ 


CHAPTER  XL 

IN  CONCLUSION 

IN  OUR  brief  study  of  the  main  features  of  the  workers' 
economic  problems  we  have  tried  to  bring  fairly  be- 
fore you  the  proof  that  the  struggle  between  the 
capitalist  class  and  the  working  class  takes  place  in  pro- 
duction and  nowhere  else;  that  it  is  over  surplus  value 
and  over  nothing  else ;  that  the  interest  of  the  capitalist 
is  to  retain  and  to  increase  the  amount  of  surplus  value, 
and  the  interest  of  the  worker  lies  in  diminishing  surplus 
value  until  finally  no  surplus  value  remains.  In  other 
words,  the  struggle  on  the  side  of  the  capitalist  is  to 
continue  labor  power  as  a  commodity,  and  on  the  side 
of  the  worker  to  destroy  the  commodity  character  of 
labor  power.  The  capitalist  wants  to  continue  the  wage 
system,  and  the  worker  must  abolish  it. 

Ben  Franklin  is  alleged  to  have  once  said  that,  "his- 
tory could  be  more  correctly  written  in  terms  of  tools 
than  in  any  other  terms."  Whether  Franklin  said  so  or 
not,  it  is  true.  Only  if  Ben  Franklin  did,  he  was  years 
ahead  of  Marx  in  discovering  the  materialistic  concep- 
tion of  history.  Were  it  not  for  the  invention  of  tools 
the  human  race  would  have  been  unable  to  survive.  The 
survival  and  progress  of  the  human  race  have  depended 
upon  the  employment  of  tools — in  the  final  analysis 
upon  the  tool  users — the  workers. 

Capital  an  Acquired  Character 

Now  the  modern  means  of  production  (  tools)  are 
referred  to  as  capital,  which  means  that  their  ownership 
confers  upon  the  owner  the  means  of  exploiting  labor,  j 
They  are  primarily,  essentially  and  always  instruments 
of  production.  This  is  their  inherent  character.  Their 
character  of  capital  is  an  acquired  character.  Take  an 
industrial  establishment  and  when  its  capitalization  is 

58 


stated  the  meaning  is  that  it  provides  a  means  to  exploit 
labor  to  the  amount  of  profit,  according  to  the  average 
rate,  upon  the  sum  for  which  it  is  capitalized.  If  there 
were  no  wage-workers,  a  billion  dollar  capitalization 
would  not  be  worth  ten  cents  and,  if  purchased  at  that 
price,  the  buyer  would  be  a  dime  out.  However,  today 
the  workers  in  capitalist  industry  and  commerce,  so  long 
as  they  are  reconciled  to  produce  surplus  value,  make  it 
an  objective  for  the  capitalist  class  to  keep  them  in  a 
condition  where  they  must  produce  it. 

The  beneficiaries  in  every  social  system  have  sought 
to  have  that  system  regarded  as  the  finality  of  human 
progress.  They  have  always  chosen  to  be  regarded  as 
the  most  necessary  element. 

A  favorite  argument  on  behalf  of  capitalism  is  that 
"labor  needs  capital  and  capital  needs  labor."  This  is 
not  at  all  so,  for  capital  in  that  connection  is  meant  to 
disguise  the  capitalists.  Labor  does  not  need  capital 
as  capital.  What  labor  needs,  and  will  eventually  have, 
is  the  instruments  of  production,  without  their  character 
of  capital.  This  character,  which  is  a  character  imposed 
upon  the  means  of  production,  the  workers  will  destroy 
without  injuring  these  tools,  without  so  much  as  even 
scratching  the  paint  on  them.  Only  the  instruments, 
without  their  capitalist  ownership,  are  necessary  to  labor. 

Labor  Objective 

This  has  been  the  objective  of  the  labor  movement 
from  its  beginning  under  capitalism.  The  very  first  union 
was  an  attempt  by  the  workers  who  formed  it  to  contest 
the  arbitrary  will  of  the  employer  which  had  previously 
prevailed  in  industry.  While  it  was  not  consciously  so, 
it^  was,  nevertheless,  the  first  step  in  a  revolutionary 
direction.  For  challenging  the  control  of  the  boss  and 
denying  it  altogether  is  one  and  the  same  principle,  and 
the  difference  is  only  a  matter  of  degree. 

The  trade  unions  sought  to  obtain  for  the  workers 
a  greater  return  from  the  proceeds  of  their  labor  and  a 
more  comfortable  existence  within  the  limits  of  the  capi- 
talist system.  Their  demands  and  the  intensity  of  the 
fervor  with  which  they  fought  for  them  betoken  a  spirit 
born  of  something  beyond  the  scope  of  their  immediate 
grievances.  The  suffering  endured,  the  sacrifices  made, 


59 


the  cheerfulness  with  which  men  have  gone  to  prison, 
the  unshrinking  manner  in  which  men  and  women  faced 
death  by  bullet,  bayonet,  scaffold  and  a  chair  speak  out 
eloquently  of  greater  inspiration  than  the  mere  cents 
per  hour  they  demanded,  or  the  minutes  they  asked  from 
the  working  day.  Their  wage  losses  were  greater  than 
the  thing  they  sought  and  fought  for,  if  the  financial 
measure  of  their  demands  were  the  inspiration  for  their 
heroic  sacrifices.  But  it  was  not.  They  fought  and  died 
for  a  conception  of  right  which,  in  the  denial  of  their 
modest  demands,  they  felt  was  violated.  The  earnest- 
ness of  their  protests  resulted  from  their  social  impulses 
and  were  never  merely  personal.  Their  magnificent  spirit 
was  temporarily  unable  to  carry  them  through  to  vic- 
tory, for  they  often  fought  with  economic  weapons  that 
were  outworn  and  almost  valueless.  The  development 
of  capitalist  industry  rendered  their  unions  obsolete  and 
the  tally  of  their  defeats  vastly  outnumber  the  score  of 
their  victories.  But,  nevertheless,  in  the  consciousness 
of  victory,  or  the  appearance  of  defeat,  the  cause  of  the 
workers  presses  steadily  forward. 

Working  Class  Unionism 

It  is  our  duty  to  ourselves  and  to  the  future  to  profit 
by  the  experiences  of  our  predecessors  and  by  our  own. 
We  must  build  up  an  organization  as  inclusive  as  the 
working  class,  arranged  to  correspond  to  the  arrange- 
ment of  industry,  flexible  enou.8:h  to  meet  and  comply 
with  the  various  and  varied  needs  of  every  and  all  work- 
ing groups  in  industry,  and  whose  aim  is  as  narrow  and 
as  single  as  the  working  class  interest.  The  power  of 
the  workers  in  production  is  the  power  of  the  life  and 
death  over  society.  This  power  can  only  be  used  to 
serve  society  by  organization  of  all  the  workers  in  all 
the  working  places.  The  capitalists  are  using  their  con- 
trol over  industry  to  destroy  society  with  wars,  unem- 
ployment and  inadequate  living  standards.  Industry 
must  be  for  human  service,  not  for  the  profit  of  the  few. 
To  bring"  this  about  is  the  mission  of  the  working  class, 
and  the  I.  W.  W.  is  the  weapon  of  the  workers  to  ac- 
complish it. 

From  day  to  day,  and  here  and  there  along  the  battle 
line  of  labor,  skirmishes  are  taking  place  between  the 


60 


forces  of  labor  and  the  capitalist  supporters.  The  results 
depend  upon  the  ability  of  the  workers  involved  to  suc- 
cessfully embarrass  the  particular  employers  with  whom 
they  are  in  conflict,  to  a  point  where  these  capitalists  are 
compelled  to  forego  some  of  their  surplus  value.  But  as 
a  gain  in  some  industries  by  the  workers  at  the  expense 
of  some  capitalists  threatens  the  surplus  value  of  other 
capitalists,  by  encouraging  the  workers  in  other  indus- 
tries and  other  places  to  make  similar  attempts,  and  thus 
weakens  the  capitalist  regime  in  industry,  these  other 
capitalists  are  always  ready  to  lend  assistance  to  their 
hard-pressed  fellows.  The  workers,  also,  are  learning 
that  they  too  must  place  themselves  in  a  position  so  as 
to  assist  their  fellow  workers  in  industrial  conflicts.  To 
do  this-  more  and  more  of  the  workers  are  becoming 
awake  to  the  necessity  of  removing  every  barrier  and 
impediment  to  class  unity.  The  craft  union  idea  is  re- 
cognized as  being  fundamentally  unsound  and  in  prac- 
tice is  a  sundering  instead  of  a  unifying  force. 

The  Industry  Organizing  Unit 

The  workers  must  be  made  to  see  that  their  economic 
organizations  must  correspond' with  and  to  the  arrange- 
ment in  industry — that  the  industry  must  be  the  unit  of 
organization  to  offer  any  prospect  of  success  in  the  every- 
day battles  of  the  working  class.  But,  in  increasing  num- 
bers, the  workers  are  recognizing  the  class  character  of 
the  struggle  and  realizing  that  the  workers  in  the  in- 
dustries must  be  lined  up  along  class  lines.  There  must 
be  one  union  of  the  workers,  functioning  in  a  purely 
economic  sense. 

Such  an  organization  is  the  Industrial  Workers  of 
the  World.  Those  who  have  read  this  little  booklet 
through  are  urged  to  acquaint  themselves  with  the  prin- 
ciples, structure,  methods  and  aim  of  the  I.  W.  W. 

Information  and  literature  can  be  secured  from  Gen- 
eral Headquarters  of  the  I.  W.  W.,  1001  West  Madison 
Street,  Chicago,  111. 

(THE  END.) 


61 


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::  The  Immediate  :: 
Demands  of  the  I  .V/.W. 


THE  PREAMBLE 

OF  THE  INDUSTRIAL  WORKERS  OF  THE  WORLD 


The  working  class  and  the  employing  class  have  nothing 
itn.  common.  There  can  be  no  peace  so  long  as  hunger  and 
want  are  found  among  millions  of  working  people  and  the 
few,  who  make  up  the  employing  class,  have  all  the  good 
things  of  life. 

Between  these  two  classes  a  struggle  must  go  on  until 
the  workers  of  the  world  organize  as  a  class,  take  posses- 
sion of  the  earth  and  the  machinery  of  production,  and 
abolish  the  wage  system. 

We  find  that  the  centering  of  management  of  the  indus- 
tries into  fewer  and  fewer  hands  makes  the  trade  unions 
unable  to  cope  with  the  ever  growing  power  of  the  employ- 
ing class.  The  trade  unions  foster  a  state  of  affairs  which 
allows  one  set  of  workers  to  be  pitted  against  another  set 
of  workers  in  the  same  industry,  thereby  helping  defeat 
one  another  in  wage  wars.  Moreover,  the  trade  unions  aid 
the  employing  class  to  mislead  the  workers  into  the  be- 
lief that  the  working  class  have  interests  in  common  with 
their  employers. 

These  conditions  can  be  changed  and  the  interest  of  the 
working  class  upheld  only  by  an  organization  formed  in 
such  a  way  that  all  its  members  in  any  one  industry,  or 
in  all  iijidustries  if  necessary,  cease  work  whenever  a  strike 
or  lockout  is  on  in  any  department  thereof,  thus  making 
an  injury  to  one  an  injury  to  all. 

Instead  of  the  conservative  motto,  "A  fair  day's  wage 
for  a  fair  day's  work,"  we  must  inscribe  on  our  banner  the 
revolutionary  watchword,  "Abolition  of  the  wage  system." 

It  is  the  historic  mission  of  the  working  class  to  do  away 
with  capitalism.  The  army  of  production  must  be  organ- 
ized, not  only  for  the  every-day  struggle  with  capitalists, 
but  also  to  carry  on  production  when  capitalism  shall  have 
been  overthrown.  By  organizing  industrially  we  are  form- 
ing the  structure  of  the  new  iociety  within  the  shell  of 
the  old. 


a  11  n  ■ 


The  Immediate  Demands 
ofthe  l.  W.  W. 


We  wish  to  begin  this  brief  statement  of  the  I.  W.  W. 
position  towards  immediate  demands  by  quoting  the  last 
paragraph  of  the  preamble  to  our  constitution: 

"It  is  the  historic  mission  of  the  working  class  to 
do  away  with  capitalism.  The  army  of  production 
must  be  organized  not  only  for  the  everyday  struggle 
with  capitalists,  but  also  to  carry  on  production  when 
capitalism  shall  have  been  overthrown.  By  organiz- 
ing industrially  we  are  forming  the  structure  of  the 
new  society  within  the  shell  of  the  old." 

Immediate  Demands  In  First  Place. 
Ultimate  Demands  In  Second  Place. 

If  we  examine  this  paragraph  thoughtfully  we  will 
see  that  the  I.  W.  W.  fully  recognizes  the  everyday  strug- 
gle with  the  employing  class.  In  fact,  the  writers  of  the 
preamble  take  it  as  a  matter  of  course  that  the  first 
function  of  a  labor  union  is  to  make  imimediate  demands 
in  regard  to  wages,  hours  and  conditions  and  to  fight  for 
them,  giving  second  place  to  the  ultimate  function  of  the 
1.  W.  W.,  i.  e.,  to  build  industrial  unions  which  are  to  serve 
as  organs  of  production  and  distribution  in  a  new  society. 

S 


New  Society  Several  Years  Ofif. 

In  the  years  tiiat  have  passed  since  the  preamble  was  ' 
written,  things  have  changed  greatly.   Capitalism  and  it  ^ 
organs  of  production  and  distribution  are  brealdng  dowi  J 
in  one  country  after  another,  that  is,  the  capitalist  system 
functions  unsatisfactorily  or  not  at  all.    Notably  is  this 
the  case  in  Russia,  Germany  and  Austria,  the  collapse  in 

e  latter  country  being  so  complete  that  the  industrial 
b 'eakdown  has  been  followed  by  a  breakdown  of  govem- 

|ent,  due  to  lack  of  revenue,  thus  proving  the  I.  W.  W. 
contention  that  it  is  a  waste  of  time  for  the  workers  to 
^.xack  or  capture  capitalist  government. 

But  even  in  the  U.  S.  A.,  the  last  important  strong- 
hold of  capitalism,  the  old  organs  of  production  and  dis- 
tribution function  with  great  and  ever  increasing  irrei^- 
ularity.  The  recent  breakdown  and  suspension  of  work  m 
such  great  industries  as  steel  production,  coal-mining, 
meat-packing  and  railroad  transportation  are  all  indica- 
tions of  a  progressive  collapse  even  here.  The  organisrii 
of  world  capitalism  is  dying  by  inches,  but  still  it  has 
unquestionably,  several  years  to  live  in  thisi  and  many 
other  countries. 

Under  these  conditions  the  second  function  of  the 
I  W.  W. — ^forming  the  structure  of  the  new  society  within 
the  shell  of  the  old — assumes  greater  importance  than  the 
writers  of  the  I.  W.  W.  Preamble  ever  dared  to  hope  for 
ill  ^ch  a  short  time,  and  overshadows  the  first  function, 
if  we  look  at  the  matter  from  the  elevated  viewpoint  of  a 
sDcial  master  engineer  or  highbrow  sociologist,  at  whose 
door  the  wolf  never  calls,  and  who  does  not  know  what  it 
is  to  be  hungry,  unclad  or  shelterless.  And  it  is  well  that 
tfie  ultimate  aim  of  the  I.  W.  W.  should  thus  be  kept 
steadily  in  view.  The  moment  we  lose  sight  of  this  our 
fmal  goal  the  I.  W.  W.  ship  is  off  its  right  course  and  get- 
ting in  dangerous  waters. 

The  Workers'  Needs  Can't  Wait. 

But — ^the  realization  of  this  ultimate  program,  which 
we  should  always  keep  in  mind,  is  at  the  best  several 

'4 


years  off.  Siich  a  gigantic  establishment  as  the  world's 
economic  mechanism  cannot  be  ^revolutionized  in  a  day, 
in  a  month,  or  in  a  year.  It  cannot  be  changed  by  orders 
from  the  top.  Society  is  a  living  organism  like  man  Him- 
self and  not  a  dead  structure  like  a  house  or  a  pyramid. 
It  cannot  be  constructed  according  to  arbitrary  plans  or 
dogmas.  It  has  to  grow,  like  a  plant  or  an  animal,  in 
accordance  with  nature's  laws,  rather  than  according  to 
man's  desires.  It  will  be  many  years  yet  before  the 
masses  have  learned  to  adjust  society  in  accordance  with 
these  laws  and  get  the  new  society  in  good  working  order, 
even  if  the  masses  had  understood  and  accepted  the  inter- 
pretation of  those  laws  contained  in  the  I.  W.  W.  program. 
As  it  is,  we  have,  as  yet,  been  able  to  reach  only  a  joart 
of  the  people  with  our  message  of  economic  salvation. 
If  we  were  to  become  so  fascinated  by  the  vision  of  a 
new  society,  through  the  long  distance  telescope  of  our 
imagination,  that  we  dropped  everything  else,  we,  the 
workers,  would  very  soon  be  brought  down  to  earth  by 
the  vigorous  protests  of  an  empty  stomach. 

For  that  reason  it  is  always  well  for  the  workers  to 
keep  their  feet  firmly  on  the  ground  of  merciless  reality, 
while  drawing  inspiration  and  hope  from  a  peep  behind 
the  curtain  which  separates  us  from  the  future. 

Not  for  a  moment  should  the  workers  forget  the  every- 
day battle  with  the  employers.  On  the  vigorous  carrying  on 
of  that  battle  rests  our  hope  of  ultimate  success  in  our  un- 
dertaking to  abolish  wage  slavery.  If  we  shirk  that  battle 
and  merely  engage  in  social  star-gazing,  the  New  I.  W.  W. 
society  will  forever  remain  a  fanciful  dream. 

Thus  the  two  functions  of  the  I.  W.  W.— the  imme- 
diate and  ultimate— go  hand  in  hand.  They  supplement 
each  other  and  are  equally  necessary. 


Immediate  Needs  —  Immediate  Demands. 

Even  if  hours  and  conditions  are  relatively  satisfac- 
tory, it  is  very  seldom  that  a  worker  is  getting  enough  to 
support  his  family  or  educate  his  children  as  he  wishes  to 
do  it,  or  as  it  should  be  done. 


Ninety  and  nine  percent  of  the  workers  labor  or  liye 
under  conditions  which,  could  and  should  be  improved, 
and  of  these  there  are  millions  upon  millions  — -  men,  wo- 

len  and  children  —  who  work  and  live  under  conditions 
v/hich  are  simply  damnable  and  scream  to  high  heaven. 

'hey  work  and  live  under  conditions  which  ruin  their 
li  ealth  and  their  morals,  rapidly  making  them  the  victims 
of  disease  and  degeneracy,  which  is  frequently  the  only 

iheritance  they  leave  to  their  children  —  when  home  and 
tamily  life  is  not  simply  out  of  question  for  them  alto- 
^  ether,  as  is  often  the  case. 

"A  bird  in  the  hand  is  worth  ten  on  the  bush,"  says 
le  proverb.    So,  to  these  workers  on  their  road  to  de- 
letion immediate  relief  is  worth  ten  paradises  in  the 
utwe.   For  what  good  is  an  earthly  paradise  to  the  one 
.^hp  is  killed  by  bad  conditions  before  he  gets  there,  or 
)  the  one  who  is  too  degenerated  phjAsically  and  morally 
no  enjoy  even  a  paradise,  or  whose  offspring  is  too  shunted 
bodily  and  intellectually  to  measure  up  to  the  sta*i^ard 
f  manhood?  ^ 

To  check  this  mad  race  down  the  iri'?>n,ad  plane 'fad- 
ing to  destruction  (recent  official  statisi  i^,^  ^.ow,  fo^  jt- 
•ance,  that  5  men  out  of  8  are  sexually  dl^seased  befc  Jie 
^ge  of  28  —  Dr.  Bundesen,  Chicago  Board  of  H^alfu)  — 
an  immediate  demand  for  improved  working  and.  ..^ 
conditions  in  every  place  of  work  and  abode  should  rise, 
tens  of  millions  strong,  from  an  outraged  and  desperate 
proletariat. 

"Up  and  at  them!"  should  be  the  worker's  motto  at 
all  times  in  their  relations  with  the  employers.  If  the 
^/orkers  keep  silent  and  endure  conditions  as  they  are, 
the  employers  will  never  move  a  finger  to  improve  them, 
'^'^^he  wages  must  be  raised  so  we  can  get  better  food, 
clothing  and  shelter  and  check  the  dissolution  of  family 
life  by  creating  homes  of  our  own.  The  hours  must  be 
lowered,  so  that  we  may  get  a  better  rest,  keep  more 
Hean  and  get  more  time  for  study  and  wholesome  re- 
creation. The  place  of  work  should  be  made  to  conform 
to  the  highest  sanitary  requirements  and  the  burden  of 
work  should  be  so  distributed  among  the  masses  as  to 
promote  health  and  life  rather  than  destroy  them. 

6 

J 


I.  W.  W,  Sets  A  Good  Example 


Right  here  is  where  the  L  W.  W.  has 
a  good  example. 

Those  who  are  old  enough  to  remember  the 
and  living  conditions  of,  for  instance,  the  migratory 
ers  in  the  opening  years  of  this  century  and  earlier,  beiore 
the  I.  W.  W.  was  bom,  in  the  construction  or  the  lumber 
camps,  in  the  wheatfields  or  in  the  hopfields,  will  still 
shudder  at  the  thought  of  them  and  bend  their  heads  in 
sorrow  at  the  recollection  of  all  the  ghastly  misery  they 
and  their  fellow  workers  had  to  pass  through.  To  take  a 
30b  of  that  kind  in  those  days  was  to  take  a  plunge  into  hell 
itself,  and  hope  there  seemed  to  be  none.  To  become  a 
migratory  worker  was  like  saying  goodbye  to  life  forever. 

It  was  then  that  the  I.  W.  W.  came  as  a  real  savior, 

a  child  whose  father  was  gruesome  economic  necessity 
and  whose  mother  was  the  rising  tide  of  working  class 
edu.^ation.  message  of  salvation  through  industrial 
.lization  "  solidarity  carried  the  force  of  divine 
r^  ation.  x..e  already  doomed  outcast  straightened  up 
hii.   ack  and  could  see  the  blue  sky  of  hope  once  more. 

^n  a  few  years  the  I.  W.  W.  message  had  penetrated, 
slowly  but  surely,  to  almost  every  camp  in  the  country. 
Driven  by  necessity,  the  workers  organized  in  the  I.  W. 
W.,  and  as  soon  as  they  began  to  feel  the  thrill  of  or- 
ganized power  tingling  in  their  blood  and  in  their  nerves 
and  became  conscious  of  their  manhood,  they  made  de- 
mands on  the  employers  for  improved  working  and  living 
conditions  raore  in  keeping  with  their  new-gained  human 
status,  and  they  usually  got  what  they  asked  for. 

The  condition  of  these  workers  is  still  far  from  what 
it  ought  to  be,  but  it  is  an  undeniable  fact  that  through  the 
immediate  demands  of  these  I.  W.  W.  members  the  worst 
terrors  of  migratory  life  were  done  away  with,  and,  besides, 
there  they  stood  with  the  embryo  of  an  organization  in 
fighting  trim,  ready  to  make  new  immediate  demands, 
including  demands  for  shorter  hours  and  better  wages. 


7 


one  general  conclusion  we  can  draw  from 
V.  W.  experience,  and  that  is,  that  the  easiest 
;cural  way  to  begin  the  attack  upon  the  employ- 
^mand  the  abolition  of  abuses  which  even  the 
jrker  cannot  fail  to  see.   Having  once  gathered 
,^ers  for  common  action  on  a  small  scale  in  this  way, 
>iily  a  question  of  "striking  while  the  iron  is  hot.  Be- 
fore the  first  little  victory  is  forgotten  they  come  with  new 
immediate  demands.  Each  such  job  battle  strengthens  the 
organization  and  gives  new  hope  and  increased  vitality. 

Thus,  by  jointly  making  immediate  demands  and 
backing  them  up  with  the  pleasure  that  lies  in  speaking 
jointly,  and  in  a  snappy  show  of  unity  and  solidarity, 
many  points  were  gained  without  an  open  battle.  In  other 
cases  it  became  necessary  to  resort  to  strikes  and  boy- 
cotts or  "strikes  on  the  job."  Through  such  persistent 
efforts  under  the  I.  W.  W.  banner,  coupled  with  a  stre- 
nuous educational  campaign,  the  migratory  workers  have 
in  most  places  won  a  chance  to  work  and  live  under  som_e- 
thing  like  human  conditions,  where  they  before  were  treat- 
ed worse  than  a  chattel  slave  ever  was. 


The  Eight  Hour  Day  and  the  "Living  W?ge/' 

It  was  through  these  successive  immediate  demands 
that  the  workers  in  the  lumber  industry  and  the  construc- 
tion industry  finally  got  to  the  point  where  they  could 
make  a  stand,  here  and  thjgre,  for  the  eigh^-,  hour  day  and 
"a  living  wage,''  whatever  that  is. 

It  was  through  such  "pyramiding''  of  immediate  de- 
mands that  the  agricultural  workers  in  the  wheatfields, 
after  many  years  of  patient  and  tireless  effort,  finally  have 
go  to  the  point  where  the  employers  in  this  line  take  it 
for  granted  that  they  have  to'  "come  through"  when  the 
1.  W.  W.  makes  an  immediate  demand,  whether  it  be  for 
bedsprings  and  clean  sheets  and  towels,  meat  without 
worms,  abolition  of  work  by  lantern  light  as  hurtful  to 
the  eyes,  or  a  little  additional  wages  to  replenish  the 
wardrobe. 

8 


It  is  by  proving  to  the  workers  that  they  can  "make  ^ 
good"  through  their  organized  power  and  enforce  such 
immediate  demands  that  the  influence  of  the  1.  W.  W.  is 
deepening  and  broadening  from  year  to  year,  in  spite  of 
all  its  enemies,  open  and  disguised,  —  deepening  in  in- 
dustries already  partly  organized,  such  as  agriculture, 
lumbering,  metal  mining,  construction  and  marine  trans- 
portation, and  broadening  into  new,  or  partly  new  fields, 
such  as  the  oil  industry,  coal-mining,  meat-packing,  rail- 
road transportation,  etc. 

The  immediate  demands  for  improved  conditions, 
shorter  hours  and  better  pay  are  the  rallying  cries  by 
means  of  which  we  can  wake  up  the  dormant  mind  of 
the  average  worker  and  get  him  with  us  so  that  we  can 
educate  him  for  efforts  of  a  higher  order,  such  as  building 
-  the  structure  of  a  new  society. 

I.  W.  W.  Follows  the  Law  of  Economic  Necessity. 

Everything  in  nature  follows  the  line  of  least  resist- 
ance, in  obedience  to  the  fundamental  law  which  in  phys- 
ics is  called  "the  law  of  gravitation.''    Any  attempt  to- 
work  against  this  fundamental  law  can  meet  with  only 
temporary,  limited  and  illusory  success. 

The  law  of  gravitation  transplanted  into  sociology 
becomes  the  Law  of  Economic  Necessity, 

Economic  necessity  under  given  conditions  shapes  the 
course  of  humanity  as  a  whole,  as  well  as  of  the  individual,  - 
just  as  gravity,  under  given  conditions  shapes  the  course  of 
water  from  snowy  mountain  peaks  to  the  deep  sea. 

Human  progress  consists  largely  in  discovering,  inter- 
preting and  following  the  irresistible  will  of  "Nature."  It 
is  when  human  beings  fail  to  adjust  their  institutions  to 
•  the  demands  of  economic  necessity  that  social  trouble  be- 
gins, resulting  sometimes  in  such  catastropic  situations  as 
the  world  is  in  at  present. 

Economic  necessity  now  demands  the  abolition  of 

9 


private  ownership  and  control  of  the  means  of  production 
and  distribution  and  their  taking  over  by  the  people. 

Interpreting  the  law  of  economic  necessity  in  that 
manner,  the  1.  W.  W.  seeks  to  gather  the  workers  into 
unions  which  will  serve  as  new  organs  of  production  and 
distribution,  and  we  depend  upon  economic  necessity  to 
force  the  workers  into  those  unions  rather  than  upon 
dogmas  and  theories. 

Any  attempt  of  the  workers  to  build  organizations  on 
anything  else  than  the  economic  necessity,  that  is  crowding 
us  so  terribly,  will  sooner  or  later  meet  with  failure,  as  is 
the  case  with  the  dogma  and  theory-bound  movements  of 
political  socialism  which  would  reconstruct  society  from 
the  top  downward  in  accordance  with  programs  express- 
ing the  special  economic  urge  of  the  would-be  leaders  of 
the  working  class  in  revolution,  instead  of  the  economic 
urge  behind  the  mass  of  the  workers.  Russia,  Germany 
and  Austria  are  terrible  examples  at  the  present  time  of 
what  happens  to  people  who  buck  the  law  of  economic 
necessity.  It  is  "monkeying  with  the  buzz-saw'*  of  nature 
with  disastrous  results.  Other  peoples  should  heed  the 
warning. 

The  I.  W.  W.  has  from  the  beginning  followed  the  law 
of  economic  necessity.  The  immediate  demands  are  the 
tangible  expressions  of  this  law  of  economic  necessity.  * 
The  terrible  resistance  the  I.  W.  W.  is  meeting  is  not 
nature-made  but  man-made.  It  comes  from  those  who 
think  they  can  stop  economic  evolution  with  jails  and 
bayonets,  dogmas  and  theories.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
who  will  win  in  the  end. 

As  long  as  the  I.  W.  W.  is  thus  building  its  unions 
and  councils  under  the  legitimate  pressure  of  economic 
necessity,  rather  than  under  the  compulsion  of  dogmas 
and  theories,  it  is  building  on  bedrock  and  in  accordance 
with  the  laws  of  nature.  That  is  why  all  hell  cannot 
destroy  or  uproot  the  I.  W.  W.  while  disaster  is  imminent 
for  the  dogmatic  movements  which  try  to  save  their  theo- 
ries by  sacrificing  the  people,  and  the  craft  union  move- 
ment which  fails  to  adjust  itself  to  the  demands  of  econ- 
omic necessity. 

10 


Worker's  Brain  Reached  Through  His  Stomach. 


For  that  reason,  wherever  the  yoke  of  wage  slavery 
presses,  make  an  immediate  demand  for  relief,  in  obedi- 
ence to  the  law  of  economic  necessity.  It  is  sure  to  gain 
more  attention  than  shelves  of  books,  or  theories. 

When  you  appeal  to  the  worker's  immediate  material 
interest  you  strike  right  home  and  he  is  with  you.  In 
the  immediate  demand  you  can  hear  his  own  voice. 

In  nine  out  of  ten  cases  (as  educational  statistics 
prove)  the  worker's  mind  is  too  untrained  to  grasp  a  plan 
for  a  world-wide  and  revolutionary  reconstruction  of  so- 
ciety. He  will  gradually  wake  up  to  that  later  on.  But 
the  first  appeal  to  his  sense  of  solidarity  is  apt  to  .be  most 
successful  if  it  is  made  to  the  stomach  instead  of  to  the 
intelligence.  The  workers  born  as  god-like,  intelligent 
idealists  who  could  sacrifice  their  own  immediate  economic 
welfare  in  the  interest  of  the  welfare  of  all  humanity  are 
easily  counted.  The  big  mass  are  "gross  materialists"  who 
move  only  in  obedience  to  economic  necessity,  like  a  herd 
of  buffaloes,  and  can  only  gradually  acquire  the  power  of 
unselfish  social  vision.  But  such  workers  are  still  the  ma- 
terial of  which  the  new  society  is  to  be  made,  if  it  is  to 


be  made  at  all. 


Roar'  '^o  Emancipation  Paved  With  Immediate  Demands. 

This  leaflet  is  primarily  directed  to  those  workers  who 
have  already  succeeded  in  reaching  a  state  of  mind  devel- 
opment which  makes  it  possible  for  them  to  make  conscious 
and  intelligent  effort  towards  the  abolition  of  wage  slavery. 

We  hope  to  have  convinced  you  that  the  law  of  econ- 
omic necessity  is  such  a  vital  factor  in  our  life  that  no 
limited  group  of  men  or  political  party  can  abolish  wage 
slavery  by  merely  conspiring  or  co-operating  to  capture  the 
political  offices  and  the  government  buildings.  Such  pro- 
cedure would  only  give  the  people  a  new  master,  a  bureau- 
cratic autocracy. 


11 


We  hope  you  can  see  as  plainly  as  we  that  the  econ- 
omic structure  of  society  cannot  be  successfully  changed 
from  the  top  downward,  but  that  it  must  be  done  from 
the  bottom  upward;  in  other  words,  that  ''the  emancipa- 
tion of  the  workers  must  be  their  own  work."  We  also 
hope  you  agree  with  us  that  the  workers  can  drive  away 
the  shirkers  and  take  real  possession  and  control  of  the 
world's  resources  only  by  beginning  at  the  bottom,  that  is, 
by  organizing  on  the  job,  by  making  one  immediate  de- 
mand on  top  of  another,  and  thus  gradually  growing  into 
control  of  the  industries  and  throwing  off  the  control  of 
the  shirkers,  much  as  man  conquered  the  wilderness,  drove 
away  the  beasts  of  prey  and  grew  into  actual  and  effective 
control  of  every  foot  of  ground  by  labor.  This  is  organic 
social  growth  as  differentiated  from  mere  violent  conquest. 
It  is  in  the  capacity  of  workers  that  men  have  taken  the 
earth  away  from  the  lion,  the  tiger  and  the  bear,  and  not 
through  politics  or  war.  It  is  as  workers  we  shall  again 
grow  into  control  of  the  earth  along  L  W.  W.  lines  and 
not  as  politicians  or  as  soldiers. 

i  As  politicians  or  soldiers  we  might  gain  possession 

and  control  of  a  library,  by  authority  or  by  bayonets,  but 
the  knowledge  stored  in  that  library  would  never  be  ours 
unless  we  humbly  sat  down  and  studied  the  books; 

As  politicians  and  soldiers  we  might  take  forcible 
possession  of  the  industries,  but  they  would  in  reality  be- 
^4ong  to  and  be  controlled  by  a  bureaucracy  until  we  take 
complete  and  actual  possession  of  them  through  our  unions 
and  learn  how  to  run  them  through  the  union  by  way  of 
"immediate  demands."  Those  who  promise  to  the  workers 
their  emancipation  from  wage-slavery  by  any  other  route 
are  simply  deceiving  them,  in  order  to  get  into  power 
themselves. 

The  road  to  our  emancipation  is  paved  with  "imme- 
diate demands"  successfully  fought  for,  and  not  "revolu- 
tionary" phrases  or  political  dogmas.  Real  control  of  the 
industries  is  gain,  not  by  means  of  bayonets  held  by  our 
hands,  but  by  means  of  knowledge  held  by  our  brains  and 
by  intelligently  organized  and  co-ordinated  economic 
action. 

12 


Not  for  a  moment  should  we  lose  sight  of  the  ultimate 
aim  —  building  the  framework  of  the  new  society  within 
the  shell  of  the  old  —  but  the  immediate  demands  fought 
for  and  won  are  the  cement  which  gradually  binds  us  to- 
gether into  the  unions  forming  that  structure.  Besides,  the 
gradual  control  thus  gained  is  our  schooling  in  world  man- 
agement, which  is  necessary. 

General  Demands  and  Specific  Demands. 

In  this  brief  leaflet  we  have  classified  the  immediate 
demands  into  three  groups — ^wages,  hours  and  conditions. 
We  have  spoken  in  a  general  way  only.  When  it  comes 
to  actual  practice  of  the  action  here  outlined  in  general 
terms,  the  workers  of  each  industry  have  to  work  out  their 
own  demands.  That  will  be  the  work  of  the  different  in- 
dustrial unions  or  their  branches. 

Workers  — get  together  and  let  your  voice  be  heard^ 
Make  a^set  of  immediate  demands  on  the  employers  which' 
will  check  the  steady  trend  toward  degradation.  Take  ad- 
vantage of  the  situation  thus  arising  to  get  your  fellow 
workers  into  your  industrial  union,  so  that  they  may  have 
^^ower  to  enforce  those  demands  and  come  with  new  ones. 
At  the  other  end  of  that  line  of  action  lie  industrial  controL 
through,  the  union,  abolition  of  wage  slavery  and  a  new 
society. 

Go  after  the  employers  with  an  endless  string  of  im- 
mediate demands. 

Up  and  at  them! 

For  proper  co-operation  on  the  widest  possible  scale 
get  in  touch  with  your  industrial  union  of  the  I.  W.  W., 
or  with  the  main  office  of  the  I.  W.  W.,  under  address. 


GENERAL  SECRETARY-TREASURER, 
INDUSTRIAL  WORKERS  OF  THE  WORLD 

}001  West  Madison  St,  Chicago,  Illinois. 


If  you  are  an  Agricultural  worker,  write  to : 

A.  W.  1.  U.  110, 

1001  West  Madison  St, 
Chicago,  III. 

If  you  are  a  Lumber  worker,  write  to: 

L.  W.  I.  U.  120, 

1001  West  Madison  St., 
Chicago,  111. 

If  you  are  a  General  Construction  worker,  write  to: 

G.  C.  W.  I.  U.  310, 

1001  West  Madison  St., 
Chicago,  111. 

If  you  are  a  Metal  Machinery  worker,  write  to : 

M.  M.  W.  I.  U. 

1001  Wesl'it  ^ttisoii  St., 
Chicago,  lii 

If  you  are  an  Oil  worker,  write  to: 

O.  W.  I.  U.  230, 

218  Culberton  Bid^., 

Oklahoma  city,^ 
Okla. 

If  you  are  a  Marine  Transport  worker,  write  to : 

M.  T.  W.  1.  U.  510, 

Box  69,  Station  D, 

New  York,  N.Y. 

If  you  are  a  Coal  miner  or  a  Metal  miner,  write  to : 

M.  &  C.  M.  W.  I.  U.  210-220, 
318  No.  Wyoming  St., 
Butte,  Montana. 

If  you  are  a  Railroader,  write  to : 

R.  R.  W.  I.  U.  520, 

1001  West  Madison  St., 
Chicago,  111. 

All  other  Unions  are  tinder  the  direct  supervision  of 
_^he  General  Executive  Board,  and  information  concerning 
them  will  be  gladly  given  by 

The  General  Sec-Treas., 

1001  West  Madison  St., 
Chicago,  111.  , 

14 


AGREEMENTS 


Any  agreement  entered  into  between  the  mem- 
bers of  any  union  or  organization  and  their  employ- 
ers, as  a  final  settlement  of  any  difficulty  or  trouble 
which  may  occur  between  them,  shall  not  be  con- 
sidered valid  or  binding  until  the  same  shall  have 
the  approval  of  the  General  Executive  Board  of  the 
Industrial  Workers  of  the  World. 

»  Jon  of  the  general  organization,  Industrial 
Department  or  Industrial  Union  of  the  I.  W.  W.  shall 
enter  into  any  contract  with  an  individual  of  corpo- 
ration of  employers  binding  the  members  to  any  of 
the  following  conditions: 

(a)  Any  agreement  wherein  any  specified 
I  length  of  time  is  mentioned  for  the  continuance  of 
: ;  the  said  agreement. 

(b)  Any  agreement  wherein  the  membership  is 
;  1  bound  to  give  notice  before  making  demands  aif ect- 
: :  ive  hours,  wages  or  shop  conditions. 

(c)  Any  agreement  wherein  it  is  specified  that 
the  members  shall  work  only  for  employers  who  be- 
long to  an  association  of  the  employers. 

(d)  Any  agreement  that  proposes  to  regulate 
the  selling  price  of  the  product  they  are  employed 
in  making. 

(e )  No  Industrial  Union,  or  any  part  of  the  In- 
dustrial Workers  of  the  World  shall  enter  into  agree- 

I  ment  with  any  labor  organization  contrary  to  the 
;;  principles  of  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World. 


"3 


I W.  W.  POBUCATIONS 


THORIZED  BY  THE  GENERAL  EXECUTIVE  BOARD 
i  OF  THE  I.  W.  W. 


10^ 
M 


I  ENGLISH 

bUSTRIAL  SOLIDARITY 

I  West  Madison  St.,  Chicago,  111. 
)  per  year;  six  months,  $1.00. 
dy. 

MDUSTRIAL  PIONEER 

West  Madison  St.,  Chicago,  111. 
hly,  $2.00  per  year.  Single  copy 

t^DUSTRIAL  WORKER 

fl857,  Seattle,  Wash.  $4.00  per 
;f  six  months  $2.00.  Bi-weekly. 

RUSSIAN 

GOLOS  TRUZENIKA 


(The  Voice  of  the  Laborer) 

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Twice  a  month.  $2.50  per  year;  $1.25 
frr  six  months. 

1  HUNGARIAN 

A  FELSZABADULAS 

(Emancipation) 

100  West  Madison  St.,  Chicago,  111. 
•""^'Oiper  year;  six  months,  $1.00. 

'  'k|y. 

ITALIAN 

IL  PROLETARIO 

(The  Proletarian) 

1001  West  Madison  St.,  Chicago,  111. 
$2.00  per  year;  six  months,  $1.00. 
Weekly. 

SPANISH 
SOLIDARIDAD 

Semi-Monthly,  1001  West  Madison 
St.,  Chicago,  111.  26  issues  $2.00;  5 
cents  per  copy. 


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(Worker's  Thought) 

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$2.00  per  year;  six  months,  $1.00. 
Weekly^ 

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MUNCITORUL 

(The  Worker) 

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Madison  St.,  Chicago,  Til. 

CZECHO-SLOVAK 
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Monthly.  $1.00  per  year.  Single  co- 
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ders over  5  copies,  20  per  cent  al- 
lowed. 


Industrial  Union  Papers 
FINNISH 

INDUSTRIALISTI 

(The  Industrialist) 
Box  464,  Dulath,  Minn.  Daily. 

Yearly  subscription  $4.50. 


WORKING  CLASS  EDUCATION  DEMANDS 
THAT  YQU  SUBSCRIBE  NOW! 


IIR  Paffl 


The 

Truth  about  the  I.  W.  W. 


Facts  in  relation  to  the  trial  at 
Chicago  by  competent  industrial 
investigators  and  noted  economists 


"The  I.  W.  W.  has  exercised 
its  strongest  hold  in  those  industries 
and  communities  where  employers 
have  most  resisted  the  trade  union 
movement,  and  where  some  form 
of  ^protest  against  unjust  treatment 
was  inevitable." 

— President*s  Mediation  Commission. 


Published  by  the 
NATIONAL  CIVIL  LIBERTIES  BUREAU 

70  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City 
Washington  Office:  647  Munsey  Building 

Jprii  1918 

9U 


institute  of  industrial  Helations 
University  of  California 
lo3/^^ele3  24.  California  ■ 


The  Truth  About  the  1.  W.  W. 

CjfThe  object  in  publishing  and  distributing  this  pamphlet  at  this 
time  is  to  furnish  interested  citizens  with  a  fair  statement  about 
the  I.  W.  W.  by  thoughtful  and  unprejudiced  observers.  This 
is  necessary  in  view  of  the  flood  of  utterly  unfounded  and  partisan 
"information"  constantly  given  out  to  the  public. 

€JThe  writings  of  practically  every  student  of  the  I.  W.  W.  during 
the  war  have  been  carefully  read,  and  the  significant  portions 
quoted.  The  only  quotations  from  matter  published  before  the 
war  are  from  the  one  book  on  the  1.  W.  W.,  "American  Syn- 
dicalism," by  John  Graham  Brooks,  and  a  reference  to  the  Paterson 
strike  from  the  Survey.  The  preparation  of  the  material  has  been 
the  joint  work  of  a  group,  comprising  Geo.  P.  West,  John  A.  Fitch, 

S   Prof.  Carlton  H.  Parker,  John  Graham  Brooks,  Roger  N.  Bald- 

3   win.  Director  of  the  Bureau,  and  others. 

^    ^It  is  not  to  be  inferred  that  the  editors  or  publishers  of  this 
>_    pamphlet  are  in  agreement  with  the  principles  and  methods  of  the 
g    I.  W.  W.    In  its  activities  as  a  labor  union,  interested  in  improving 
the  condition  of  wage-earners,  we  can  find  much  to  commend.  It 
should  be  clearly  understood,  however,  that  the  editors  and  pub- 
lishers do  not^jthereby  endorse  its  social  and  industrial  philosophy. 

^The  1.  W.  W.  is  the  most  bitterly  attacked  and  most  deliber- 
-^v    ately  misrepresented  of  all  labor  organizations  today.  The 
interests  of  our  future  orderly  progress  demand  that  every 
2    citizen  should  have  an  understanding  of  the  movement  drawn 
\    from  other  sources  than  the  partisan  statements  fed  out  for  com- 
^    mercial  purposes. 

fair  trial  is  an  American  right.   Even  the  I.  W.  W.  are  en- 
titled to  one.   But  they  cannot  get  it  in  the  tumult  of  war  unless 
^    the  truth  is  known.    Nothing  would  go  further  to  justify  their 
.      philosophy  than  to  deny  a  fair  hearing  to  them. 
C 

c3  ^In  the  earnest  belief  that  this  is  a  service  of  the  highest  im- 
portance to  American  institutions  of  liberty  and  democratic 
rights,  we  submit  this  pamphlet  to  the  public. 


NATIONAL  CIVIL  LIBERTIES  BUREAU. 


New  York, 
March,  1918. 


3 


CONTENTS. 

Page 

Sketches  of  the  authorities  quoted    5 

Terms  Commonly  Used   7 

Summary  of  the  Facts   8 

The  Economic  Basis  of  the  I.  W.  W   11 

The  Issues  at  Stake  in  the  Trial   13 

The  I.  W.  W.  Purposes  and  Philosophy   16 

The  Facts  About  the  L  W.  W   20 

Its  Membership   .    20 

Its  Organization   22 

Relations  with  Employers   24 

Relations  with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
Unions   25 

Sabotage  and  Violence.   26 

The  I.  W.  W.  and  the  War   31 

The  Facts   31 

The  Verdict  of  the  President's  Mediation  Commission.  35 

The  Report  of  the  Department  of  Labor   37 

Patriotism  and  the  I.  W.  W.  ,   37 

Misrepresentation  of  the  1.  W.  W   41 

The  Indictment  Against  the  I.  W.  W   43 

Trial  by  the  Press  43 

Trial  by  the  Government  ,   43 

Analysis  of  the  Indictment  47 

Facts  About  the  Defendants   54 


4 


BRIEF  SKETCHES 


Of  Each  o£  the  Writers  and  Economists  Quoted 

John  Grahsmi  Brooks  of  Cambridge,  Mass., economist,  author 
and  lecturer;  former  lecturer  at  Harvard,  University  of  Chicago 
and  University  of  California;  former  expert  for  the  United  States 
Department  of  Labor;  Honorary  President  of  the  National  Con- 
sumers' League;  author  of  "American  Syndicalism,  the  1.  W.  W." 
(1913),  "The  Social  Unrest"  (1903),  etc.,  etc.  With  the  exception 
of  the  statement  on  page  45,  especially  v^ritten  for  this  pamphlet, 
all  the  quotations  from  Mr.  Brooks  are  taken  from  his  book  on 
"American  Syndicalism,  The  L  W.  W.,"  written  in  1913. 

Robert  W.  Bmere  of  'New  York  City,  writer  and  lecturer. 
Mr.  Bruere  accompanied  the  President's  Mediation  Commission  on 
its  recent  trip  through  the  West  to  get  first-hand  facts  about  the 
industrial  situation.  He  went  as  special  correspondent  for  the 
New  York  Evening  Post,  where  his  articles  have  been  published 
under  the  head,  "Following  the  Trail  of  the  L  W.  W."  Mr.  Bruere 
was  a  former  teacher  at  the  University  of  Chicago,  and  later  execu- 
tive of  one  of  the  largest  agencies  for  charitable  relief  in  New 
York.  He  was  an  adviser  to  the  unions  in  the  cloak  and  suit  strike 
in  New  York  City,  1916.  The  quotations  are  all  from  his  recent 
^articles  in  the  New  York  Evening  Post. 

Harold  Callender  of  Detroit,  Michigan,  a  writer  on  the 
Detroit  News,  formerly  with  the  Kansas  City  Star.  Mr.  Callender 
made  a  personal  investigation  into  the  labor  situation  during  the 
war  in  industries  where  the  I.  W.  W.  is  strong.  The  investigation 
was  made  for  "Labor's  National  Defense  Council,"  of  which  Frank 
P.  Walsh  of  Kansas  City,  former  chairman  of  the  U.  S.  Commis- 
sion on  Industrial  Relations,  is  the  head.  The  quotations  are  from 
the  pamphlet  report  |nade  by  Mr.  Callender. 

John  A.  Fitch  of  New  York  City,  industrial  editor  of  the 
Survey  since  1912,  formerly  connected  with  the  New  York  Bureau 
of  Labor  Statistics.  All  of  the  quotations  from  Mr.  Fitch  are  from 
his  articles  in  the  Survey. 

Walter  Nelles  of  New  York  City,  attorney,  graduate  of  the 
Harvard  Law  School,  counsel  for  the  National  Civil  Liberties 
Bureau. 

5 


Carlton  H.  Parker  of  Seattle,  Wash.  As  we  go  to  press  we 
learn  of  the  death  at  Seattle  of  Prof.  Parker,  due  in  large  part  to 
overwork  not  only  in  his  administrative  duties  as  dean  of  the 
School  of  Business  Administration  of  the  University  of  Washing- 
ton, but  also  as  a  special  agent  of  the  War  Department  in  dealing 
with  the  I.  W.  W.  situation  in  the  lumber  industry  of  the  northwest. 
Prof.  Parker  in  his  earlier  work  in  California  and  Washington  made 
a  special  study  of  labor  problems.  He  contributed  to  the  Atlantic 
Monthly  for  November,  1917,  the  most  significant  article  on  the 
I.  W.  W.  which  has  been  written  in  recent  years  ("The  I.  W.  W. — 
a  Different  View").  The  quotations  from  Prof.  Parker  are  all 
from  his  Atlantic  Monthly  article,  with  the  exception  of  the  state- 
ment on  page  11,  which  was  prepared  especially  for  this  pamphlet. 

Prof.  Thorstein  Veblen  of  the  University  of  Missouri,  quoted 
on  page  27,  economist  and  author  of  the  "Theory  of  the  Leisure 
Class,"  etc.,  etc. 

George  P.  West  of  New  York  City,  associate  editor  of  the 
Public;  former  publicity  director  of  the  U.  S.  Commission  on 
Industrial  Relations ;  author  of  the  Commission's  report  on  the  Colo- 
rado strike ;  formerly  special  writer  for  the  San  Francisco  Bulletin 
on  the  Lawrence  strike,  the  California  hop-riots  and  the  San  Diego 
free  speech  fight,  in  all  of  which  he  made  an  intimate  study  of  the 
I.  W.  W.  The  material  from  Mr.  West  was  contributed  especially 
for  this  pamphlet. 

The  Presideait^s  Mediation  Commission,  appointed  by  the 
President  in  the  fall  of  1917  to  effect  settlements  of  labor  disputes 
and  unrest  in  the  West,  submitted  its  report  to  the  President  on 
January  9th,  1918.  The  members  of  the  Commission  were  Wm. 
B.  Wilson,  Secretary  of  Labor,  Chairman;  Felix  Frankfurter,  Sec- 
retary and  Counsel;  Ernest  P.  Marsh,  Verner  Z.  Reed,  Jackson  L 
Spangler  and  John  H.  Walker. 


6 


TERMS 

Commonly  Used — and  Abused — in  Connection  with  Radical 

Labor  Movements. 

These  brief  definitions  given  to  avoid  confusion  and 
misunderstanding.    They  are  necessarily  incomplete. 

Capitalism:-  The  present  system  of  privately-owned  indus- 
try, operated  for  profit. 

Socialism:  The  ownership  of  all  socially  necessary  indus- 
tries by  organized  society,  and  their  operation  for 
service,  not  for  profit. 

"  Syndicalism:  The  ownership  and  operation  of  each  indus- 
try by  the  workers  in  that  industry, — the  political 
State  to  be  abolished.  -  \ 

Guild  Socialism:  The  ownership  of  all  industries  by  the 
State,  with  operation  by  "guilds"  or  trade-unions  of 
the  workers  in  each  industry. 

Anarchism:  The  conception  of  a  free  society  without  force 
or  compulsory  control  in  any  form.  Syndicalism  ex- 
presses its  principle  in  the  industrial  field. 

Sabotage  (or,  "strike  on  the  job") :  Any  practice  de- 
signed to  slow  up  or  impede  production  in  industry. 

—  Direct  Action:  The  organized  industrial  power  of  the 
workers.   (Used  to  distinguish  from  political  action.) 

Craft  unionism:  Organization  of  the  workers  by  trades 
(carpenters,  plumbers,  etc.).  Used  to  distinguish 
from  industrial  unionism,  organization  of  the  work- 
ei;s  by  industries  (mining,  building,  etc.),  regardless 
of  their  trades. 


7 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  FACTS. 


To  those  who  have  not  studied  the  labor  problem  of  the 
unskilled  millions  who  toil  in  our  harvest-fields,  forests,  mines 
and  factories,  the  L  W.  W.  appears  only  as  a  criminal  organiza- 
tion of  *'bums"  and  agitators,  advocating  murder,  violence  and 
anarchism.  Since  the  war  there  has  been  added  to  this  indict- 
ment, disloyalty,  treason  and  pro-Germanism.  In  the  mind  of 
the  average  American,  the  I.  W.  W.  has  already  been  convicted. 

If  these  ideas  about  the  I.  W.  W.  were  essentially  true, 
there  would  be  no  occasion  at  all  for  publishing  this  pamphlet. 
It  is  because  they'are  so  evidently  untrue  upon  any  examination 
at  all  of  the  facts  that  we  believe  the  American  public  should 
know  at  this  time  the  findings  of  unbiased  students. 

To  the  average  man  it  seems  of  course  incredible  that  any 
organization  could  be  so  grossly  misrepresented  unless  there 
were  some  real  reason  for  it.  The  widespread  misrepresentation 
of  the  I.  W.  W.  is  due  to  three  chief  causes: 

1st.  The  radical  economic  doctrines  taught  by  the  I. 
W.  W.,  and  the  "big  talk"  of  many  of  the  members, — 
intended  to  magnify  the  power  of  the  organization  and  to 
scare  employers.  But  it  is  almost  all  talk  and  printed 
words.  They  also  openly  advocate  tactics  common  to  all 
labor  unions  everywhere,  but  usually  not  talked  about. 

2nd.  The  deliberate  misrepresentations  by  employing 
interests  opposed  to  organized  labor,  who  have  taken  ad- 
vantage of  these  doctrines  to  paint  the  I.  W.  W.  as  a  ter- 
rorist organization  of  "anarchists."  They  thus  frighten  the 
public  into  an  alliance  with  them  instead  of  with  labor. 

3rd.  The  antagonism  between  the  I.  W.  W.  and  the 
older  trade-unions  organized  by  crafts  and  affiliated  mostly 
with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor.  This  is  due  tc  the 
I.  W.  W.  demand  for  a  radical  new  form  of  unionism,  bit- 
terly critical  of  the  craft  unions  of  the  old  school. 


8 


The  Facts  and  Opinions  Quoted  in  this  Pamphlet  Show 
in  General: 

1st.  That  the  I.  W.  W.  is  part  of  a  world  labor  movement 
of  a  new  kind,  aimed  to  secure  the  solidarity  of  the  workers  in 
one  organization,  with  an  uncompromising  attitude  of  hostility 
toward  organized  capital.  Its  purpose  is  ultimately  to  replace 
the  capitalist  system  of  production  with  production  by  organi- 
zations of  the  workers  themselves.  It  is  essentially  a  part  of 
the  Syndicalist  labor  movement,  which  is  not  confined  to  any  one 
organization  or  any  one  country. 

2nd.  That  the  use  of  "sabotage"  (the  "strike  on  the  job") 
to  embarrass  the  employer  at  times  of  labor  difficulty  is  not 
directed  to  violence  against  human  life,  and  rarely  to  actual  de- 
struction of  property. 

3rd.  That  the  so-called  "revolutionary"  purpose  of  the  I. 
W.  W.  as  compared  with  the  older  craft  unions  is  best  expressed 
in  their  demand  for  "the  abolition  of  the  wage  system,"  as  con- 
trasted with  the  A.  F.  of  L.  "fair  day's  wage  for  a  fair  day's 
work." 

4th.  That  the  membership  of  the  I.  W.  W.  is  not  composed 
of  "bums"  and  agitators,  but  fon  the  most  part  of  hard-working 
men,  chiefly  American-born,  engaged  in  migratory  jobs. 

5th.  That  violence  has  been  much  more  commonly  used 
against  the  1.  W.  W.  than  by  it;  that  the  violence  used  by  em- 
ployers is  open,  organized,  deliberate  and  without  any  excusable 
provocation;  and  that  the  I.  W.  W.  have  almost  never  retaliated 
even  in  the  face  of  outrages  ranging  from  murder  to  mob  depor- 
tations. 


The  Facts  Quoted  Show  During  the  War: 

1st.  That  the  "disloyalty  and  treason"  charged  against  the 
I.  W.  W.  as  part  of  a  "conspiracy  to  obstruct  the  war"  are,  so 
far  as  yet  shown  by  any  evidence,  simply  the  ordinary  activities 
of  labor-unions  struggling  to  get  better  wages  and  conditions 
even  in  war-time. 

Ind.  That  the  I.  W.  W.  strikes  and  labor  disturbances  were 
comparatively  fewer  in  the  six  months'  period  between  the  decla- 
ration of  war  and  the  indictments  than  in  many  similar  periods  in 
recent  years. 


9 


3rd.  That  there  have  been  many  more  strikes  and  labor 
disturbances  during  the  war  by  unions  affiliated  with  the  Ameri- 
can Federation  of  Labor  than  with  the  I.  W.  W. 

4th.  That  no  member  of  the  1.  W.  W.  has  been  convicted 
in  any  court  of  any  crime  involving  the  organization  in  so-called 
"disloyalty"  or  violence  from  the  time  the  war  started  up  to  date 
(March  1st,  1918). 

5th.  That  the  charge  that  pro-German  propaganda  is  back 
of  the  I.  W.  W.  appears  to  have  been  made  expressly  for  the 
purpose  of  discrediting  them  further.  No  connection  whatever  has 
been  found  between  German  agents  or  German  money  and  the  I. 
W.  W. 

6th.  That  many  I.  W.  W.  unions,  especially  those  on  the 
Atlantic  seaboard,  have  been  loyally  serving  the  country  during 
the  war,  particularly  in  the  loading  of  ammunition  and  war  sup- 
plies on  the  docks,  and  in  much  of  the  work  on  board  the  trans- 
ports to  France.  They  have  made  no  trouble  of  any  kind,  be- 
cause working  conditions  and  wages  are  good. 

7th.  That  most  of  the  charges  of  obstruction  against  the 
1.  W.  W.  during  the  war  are  part  of  an  organized  campaign  by 
war-profiteers  and  employing  interests  to  use  the  war  to  crush 
this  labor  organization.  Under  the  cloak  of  patriotism  they  have 
staged  such  acts  of  violence  as  the  Bisbee,  Arizona,  deportations, 
the  hanging  of  Frank  Little  at  Butte,  and  the  tarring  and  feath- 
ering of  I.  W.  W.  prisoners  at  Tulsa,  Okla.,  and  elsewhere.  They 
have  sought  to  tie  the  I.  W.  W.  tag  to  any  and  all  labor  dis- 
turbances, that  they  may  more  easily  discredit  and  break  them. 

8th.  That  the  inevitable  result  of  this  misrepresentation, 
and  indeed  of  the  government's  prosecution  itself,  is  to  increase 
labor  unrest,  to  curtail  war  production,  and  to  promote  national 
disunity.  Its  effect  is  to  enlist  the  sympathy  of  the  older  craft 
unions  for  the  I.  W.'  W.  and  to  close  the  breach  between  the 
conservative  and  revolutionary  labor  movements.  * 

All  of  this  brings  about  results  directly  opposite  to  those 
desired  by  the  government. 


10 


THE  ECONOMIC  BASIS  OF  THE  I.  W.  W. 


By  Carlton  H.  Parker. 

The  I.  W.  W.  is  a  symptom  of  a  distressing  industrial  status. 
For  the  moment  the  relation  of  its  activities  to  our  war  prepara- 
tion has  befogged  its  economic  origins,  but  all  purposeful  think- 
ing about  even  the  I.  W.  W.'s  attitude  tow^ards  the  war  must 
begin  with  a  full  and  careful  consideration  of  these  origins. 

All  the  famous  revolutionary  movements  of  history  gained 
their  cause-for-being  from  some  intimate  and  unendurable  op- 
pression and  their  behavior-in-revolt  reflected  the  degree  of  their 
suffering.  The  chartist  and  early  trade  union  riots  in  England, 
the  revolution  of  1789  in  France,  the  Nihilists'  killings  in  Rus- 
sia, the  bitter  attacks  on  the  railroads  by  the  Grangers  of  the 
Northwest,  the  extremes  into  which  the  Anti-Saloon  League 
propaganda  has  evolved,  are  a  small  part  of  the  long  revolt-cata- 
logue of  which  the  I.  W.  W.  is  the  last  entry.  Each  one  of  these 
movements  had  its  natural  psycho-political  antecedents  and  much 
of  the  new  history  is  devoted  to  a  careful  describing  and  re- 
valuation of  them. 

At  some  later  and  less  hysterical  date  the  I.  W.  W.  phe- 
nomenon will  be  dispassionately  dissected  in  somewhat  the 
following  way  A 

(1)  There  were  in  1910  in  the  United  States  some  10,400,000 
unskilled  male  workers.  Of  these  some  3,500,000  moved,  by 
discharge  or  quitting,  so  regularly  from  one  work  town  to  an- 
other that  they  could  be  called  migratory  labor.  Because  of  this 
unstable  migratory  life  this  labor  class  lost  the  conventional 
relationship  to  women  and  child  life,  lost  its  voting  franchise, 
lost  its  habit  of  common  comfort  or  dignity,  and  gradually  be- 
came consciously  a  social  class  with  fewer  legal  or  social  rights 
than  are  conventionally  ascribed  to  Americans.  The  cost  of  this 
experience  was  aggravated  by  the  ability  and  habituation  of 
this  migratory  class  to  read  about  and  appreciate  the  higher 
social  and  economic  life  enjoyed  by  the  American  middle  class. 

(2)  The  unskilled  labor  class  itself  experienced  a  life  not 
markedly  more  satisfying  than  the  migratories.    One  fourth  of 


11 


the  adult  fathers  of  their  families  earned  less  than  $400  a  year, 
one-half  earned  less  than  $600.  The  minimum  cost  of  decent 
living  for  a  family  was  approximately  $800.  Unemployment, 
destitution  and  uncared-for  sickness  was  a  monotonous  fa- 
miliarity to  them. 

(3)  The  to-be-expected  revolt  against  this  social  condition 
was  conditioned  and  colored  by  the  disillusionment  touching 
justice  and  industrial  democracy  and  the  personal  and  intimate- 
indignities  and  sufferings  experienced  by  the  migratories.  The 
revolt-organization  of  the  migratories,  called  the  I.  W.  W.,  fail- 
ing most  naturally  to  live  up  to  the  elevated  legal  and  contract- 
respecting  standards  of  the  more  comfortable  trade  union  world, 
was  visited  by  severe  middle-clcTss  censure  and  legal  persecution. 

This  sketch  is  fairly  complete  and  within  current  facts.  No 
one  doubts  the  full  propriety  of  the  government  in  suppressing 
ruthlessly  any  interference  by  the  I.  W.  W.  with  the  war  prepa- 
ration. All  patriots  should  just  as  vehemently  protest  against 
the  suppression  of  the  normal  economic  protest-activities  of  the 
I.  W.  W.  There  will  be  neither  permanent  peace  nor  prosperity 
in  our  country  till  the  revolt-basis  of  the  I.  W.  W.  is  removed. 
And  until  that  is  done  the  I.  W.  W.  remains  an  unfortunately 
valuable  symptom  of  a  diseased  industrialism.  ^ 


12 


The  average  man  condemns  the  I.  W.  W.  because  he  thinks 
that :  "The  organization  is  unlawful  in  its  activity,  un-American 
in  its  sabotage,  unpatriotic  in  its  relation  to  the  flag,  thq  govern- 
ment and  the  war.  The  rest  of  the  condemnation  is  a  play  upon 
these  three  attributes.  So  proper  and  so  sufficient  has  this  con- 
demnatory analysis  become  that  it  is  a  risky  matter  to  approach 
the  problem  from  another  angle." 
But—  ' 

"The  1.  W.  W.  can  be  profitably  viewed  only  as  a  psycho- 
logical by-product  of  the  neglected  childhood  of  industrial 
America.  It  is  discouraging  to  see  the  problem  to-day  exam- 
ined almost  exclusively  from  the  point  of  view  of  its  relation  to 
patriotism  and  conventional  commercial  morality." 

— Carlton  H.  Parker. 

What  Is  The  Truth? 

"It  was  probably  in  recognition  of  the  very  sketchy  nature 
of  the  treason  evidence  so  far  made  public  that  one  journal  has 
been  moved  to  lay  down  the  basic  judicial  principle  that  as 
against  the  1.  W.  W.  there  is  really  no  need  of  specific  evidence 
of  sedition.  By  its  record  and  its  well-known  statement  of  prin- 
ciples the  I.  W.  W.  has  been  a  treasonable  organization  from  the 
start.  For  has  not  the  I.  W.  W.  always  preached  sabotage? 
And  what  does  sabotage  mean  ?  Tt  means  di^opping  phosphorus 
balls  into  dry  wheat-fields^  so  that  babies  may  starve.  It  means 
stones  thrown  into  threshing  machines,  railroad  trains  ditched, 
lurnber  yards  destroyed,  warehouses  burned.' 

"Has  any  evidence  been  as  yet  cited  of  wreckage  and  de- 
struction worked  by  the  I.  W.  W.?  Is  there  any  ather  foundai- 
tion  so  far  made  public  for  all  the  dread  actuality  of  sabotage 
other  than  the  commonplaces  of  L  W.  W.  dogma  as  expounded 
in  their  theoretic  textbooks?  On  that  basis,  not  only  the  leaders 
of  the  I.  W.  W,,  but  every  leader  and  member  of  the  Socialist 
party,  might  have  been  arrested  for  criminal  conspiracy  these 
twenty  years.    Socialist  theory  bristles  with  formulas  on  class 

13 


The  Truth  About  TiiE  1.  -W.  W. 


war,  and  the  capitalist's  flag,  and  the  common  cause  of  the 
:^^orkers  of  the  world. 

"The  belief  that  the  Administr-ation's  policy  against  the  I. 
W.  W.  and  in  a  lesser  degree  against  the  Socialist  party  can  be 
based  on  a  general  assumption  of  conspiracy  and  treason  in  time 
of  war  is  an  impossible  one  and  a  dangerous  one.  The  fact 
cannot  be  explaine4  away  that  the  1.  W.  W.  does  embody  one 
phase  of  the  labor  movement  in  this  country,  and  only  blindness 
will  persist  in  regarding  every  manifestation  of  labor  trouble 
under  I.  W.  W.  auspices  as  a  pro-German  conspiracy  calling  for 
the  strong  hand."  — Editorial,  N.  Y.  Evening  Post. 

"According  to  the  newspapers,  theT.  W.  W.  is  engaged  in 
treason  and  terrorism.  The  organization  is  supposed  to  have 
caused  every^  forest  fire  in  the  West — where,  by  the  way,  there 
have  been  fewer  forest  fires  this  season  than  ever  before.  Driv- 
ing spikes  in  lumber  before  it  is  sent  to  the  sawmill,  pinching 
the  fruit  in  orchards  so  that  it  will  spoil,  crippling  the  copper, 
lumber  and  shipbuilding  industries  out  of  spite  against  the  gov- 
ernment, are  commonly  repeated  charges  against  them.  It  is 
supposed  to  be  for  this  reason  that  the  states  are  being  urged  to 
pass  stringent  laws  making  their  activities  and  propaganda  im- 
possible;  or,  in  the  absence  of  such  laws,  to  encourage  the  police, 
soldiers  and  citizens  to  raid,  lynch,  and  drive  them  out  of  ,  the 
community.  i 

*'But  what  are  the  facts?  What  are  the  Industrial  Workers 
of  the  World  really  doing?  In  the  lumber  camps  of  the  north- 
west they  are  trying  to  force  the  companies  to  give  them  an 
eight-hour  day  and  such  decencies  of  life  as  spring  cots  to  sleep 
on  instead  of  bare  boards.  In  the  copper  region  of  Montana-, 
they  are  demanding  facilities  to  enable  the  men  to  get  out  'of  a 
mine  when  the  shaft  takes  fire.  .  It  is  almost  a  pity  to  spoil  the 
melodramatic  fiction  of  the  press,  but  this  is  the  real  nature  of 
the  activities  of  the  I.  W.  W."  — Harold  Callendef. 

Are  the  I.  W.  W.  Entitled  to  a  Fair  Trial? 

"'Equality  before  the  law'  is  a  much  quoted  phrase  supposed 
to  sum  up  America's  principles  and  practice.  Is  there  a  pro- 
vision anywhere  in  our  charter  law  allowing  the  police  to  sus- 
pend the  rules  in  the  case  of  'agitators,'  'disturbers,'  or  'anar- 
chists'? Are  there  people  in  America  whose  beliefs  and  manner 
of  living  are  so  repugnant  to  popular  ideals  that  they  may  be 
said  to  have  no  rights  that  any  good  citizen  is  bound  to  respect? 
If  it  is  generally  believed  that  a  negative  answer  may  unhesitat- 


V 


/ 

The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


:  ingly  be  given  to  these  questions  it  is  pertinent  to  consider  a 
little  recent  history  concerning  that  new  and  revolutionary  or- 
ganization, the  I.  W.  W.  \ 

"Against  this  body  are  arrayed  the  forces  of  present-day 
society.  It  is  denounced  by  the  press,  thundered  at  by  the  pulpit, 
and  anathematized  by  the  spokesmen  of  the  business  world. 

"There  is  an  opposition  that  thinks  it  sees  in  the  philosophy 
underlying  the  movement  not  constructive  change  but  class  war 
and  ruin,  and  so  resists  the  organization's  advance.  But  this 
resistance  is  by  legitimate  means,  for  if  these  people  see  peril  in 
this  hew  philosophy,  they  believe  there  is  greater  peril  in  setting 
aside  the  law  to  suit  the  convenience  of  those  in  authority. 

"There  is  another  opposition — and  to-day  it  seems  to  be  the 
larger  and  stronger — that  regards  the  I.  W.  W.  as  a  peril  that 
must  be  resisted  to  the  end.  But  this  element?  partly  through 
ignorance,  partly  through  the  excitement  of  fear,  and  partly 
through  a  consciousness  of  illegitimately-acquired  possessions,  is 
willing  that  the  organization  be  repressed  even,  illegally  and  with 
flagrant  disregard  of  the  cons°titutional  rights  of  the  individual."^ 

— John  A.  'Fitch,  in  the  '^Survey!' 

Note. — It  is  a  significant  fact  that,  with  all  the  talk  of  I.  W. 
W.  disloyalty  and  violence,  there  has  not  been  reported  as  yet 
(March  1)  since  the  war  stz^rted  one  conviction  of  an  I.  W.  W. 
member  of  any  crime  involving  the  organization  in  either  such 
charge  in  any  form.  This  statement  is  based  on  an  examination 
of  thousands  of  newspaper  clippings,  and  on  the  authority  of  the 
attorneys  for  the  I.  W.  W. — Editors. 

Why  They  Deserve  Our  Attention. 

"No  considerable  force  appearing  among  us  seeking  social 
betterment  is  to  be  held  off  and  treated  like  a  marauder  or  an 
outcast.  Invariably  these  forces  bring  with  them  idealisms  that 
ao  society  can  afford  to  lose.  Much  of  the  conscious  plan  and 
method  of  Syndicalism  is  whimsically  chimerical.  But  in  it  and 
through  it  is  something  as  sacred  as  the  best  of  the  great 
dreamers  have  ever  J^rought  us.  In  the  total  of  this  move- 
ment, the  deeper,  inner  fact  seems  to  be  its  nearness  to  and 
sympathy  with  that  most  heavy  ladeh  and  long-enduring  mass 
of  common  toilers.  Alike  to  our  peril  and  to  our  loss,  shall  we 
ignore  this  fact.  Steadily  to  see  it  and  keep  it  in  Remembrance 
is  tkfe  beginning  of  stich  practical  wisdoni  as  we  may  show 
toward  it."  — John  Graham  Brooks. 

15 


/ 


THE  I.  W.  W.  PURPOSES  AND  PHILOSOPHY. 


A  Movement  of  Protest  and  Revolt. 

"Those  who  have  investigated  and  studied  the  lower  strata 
of  American  labor  have  long  recognized  the  I.  W.  W.  as  purely 
a  symptom  of  a  certain  distressing  state  of  affairs.  The  casual 
migratory  laborers  are  the  finished  product  of  an  economic  en- 
vironment which  seems  cruelly  efficient  in  turning  out  human 
beings  modelled  after  all  the  standards  which  society  abhors. 
The  history  of  the  migratory  workers  shows  that,  starting  with 
the  long  hours  and  dreary  winters  of  the  farms  they  ran  away 
from,  ®r  the  sour^smelling  bunk-house  in  a  coal  village,  through 
their  character-debasing  experience  with  the  drifting  *hire  and 
fire*  life  in  the  industries,  on  to  the  vicious  social  and  economic 
life  of  the  winter  unemployed,  their  training  predetermined  but 
one  outcome,  and  the  environment  produced  its  type.^ 

"The  I.  W.  W.  has  importance  only  as  an  illustration  of  a 
stable  American  economic  process.  Its  pitiful  syndicalism,  its 
street-corner  opposition  to  the  v/ar,  are  the  inconsequential 
trimmings.  Its  strike  alone,  faithful  as  it  is  to  the  American 
type,  is  an  illuminating  thing.  The  I.  W.  W.,  like  the  Grangers, 
the  Knights  of  Labor,  the  Farmers'  Alliance,  the  Progressive 
party,  is  but  a  phenomenon  of  revoW'  —Carlton/ H.  Parker. 

'  "They  may  be  honestly  accounted  for  because  of  things  in- 
tolerable in  our  present  disorders.  Syndicalism,  with  its  excesses 
of  statement  and  of  action,  with  all  the  phantasm  of  its  working 
method,  will  continue,  and  should  continue  as  one  among  other 
prodding  annoyances  that  leave  society  without  peace  until  it 
dedicates  far  more  unselfish  thought  and  strength  to  avoidable 
diseases  like  unmerited  poverty,  unemployment,  grotesque  in- 
equalities in  wealth  possession,  the  forced  prostitution  of  under- 
paid women,  and  our  fatuous  brutalities  in  dealing  with  crime." 

"As  for  constructive  suggestion,  our  I.  W.  W.  have  so  little 
as  to  embarrass  the  most  indulgent  critic.  In  their  convulsive 
and  incendiary  appeal  to  the  forgotten  masses  there  is,  never- 
theless, a  saving  utility  that  should  bring  the  movement  within 
our  sympathetic  acceptance.    To  the  utmost,  we  should  work 


16 


The  Truth  About  the  L  W.  W. 


with  it  as  those  determined  to  learn,  from  whatever  source  the 
messagfe  comes. 

"Of  this  total  rising  protest  against  sources  of  unnatural  in- 
equalities in  wealth  and  opportunity,  the  I.  W.  W.  is  at  most  a 
very  tiny  part.  It  is  yet  enough  that  they  are  in  it,  and  they  are 
fully  aware  of  the  fact.  For  the ;  first  time  they  are  so  con- 
sciously related  to  this  spirit  of  revolt  and  to  the  delicate  indus- 
trial mechanism  which  gives  them  power,  that  only  a  captious 
temper  will  refuse  them  hearing."  — John  Graham  Brooks. 

I.  W.  W.  Theory  and  Practice. 

"An  altogether  unwarranted  importance  has  been  given  to 
the  syndicalist  philosophy  of  the  I.  W.  W.  A  few  leaders  use 
its  phraseology.  Of  these  few,  not  half  a  dozen  know  the  mean- 
ing of  French  syndicalism  or  English  guild  socialism.  To  the 
grekt  wandering  rank  and  file  the^  I.  W.  W.  is  simply  the  only 
social  break  in  the  harsh  search  for  work  that  they  have  ever 
had ;  its  headquarters  the  qnly  competitor  of  the  saloon  in  which 
they  are  welcome."  —Carlton  H.  Parker, 

As  a  Labor  Movement. 

**The  LW.W.  can  be  described  with  complete  accuracy  as  the  ^ 
extension  of  the  American  labor  strike  into  the  zone  of  casual, 
migratory  labor.  All  the  superficial  features,  such  as  its  syndi- 
calistic philosophy,  its  sabotage,  threats  of  burning  and  desttuc- 
vlon,  are  the  natural  and  normal  accompaniment^  of  an  organized 
labor  disturbance  in  this  field. 

"Their  philosophy  is,  in  its  simple  reduction,  a  stomach 
philosophy,  and  their  politico-industrial  revolt  could  be  called 
without  injustice  a  hunger  riot."  — Carlton  H.  Parker. 

•  Their  Philosophy. 

The  whole  revolutionary  philosophy  of  the  I.  W.  W.  is 
summed  up  in  the  "Preamble"  to  their  Constitution.  Here  are 
the  class  struggle,  the  relation  to  syndicalism,  to  the  craft  unions 
of  the  A.  F.  of  L.  and  the  ideal  of  a  world-wide  union  of  the 
workers  abolishing  the  competitive  industrial  system. 

7.  W.  W.  PREAMBLE. 
"The  working  class  and  the  employing  class  have  nothing 
in  common.    There  can  be  no  peace  so  long  as  hunger  and 
want  are  found  among  millions  of  the  working  people  and 
the  few  who  make  up  the  employing  class  have  all  the  good  | 
things  of  life. 


17 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


"Between  these  two  classes  a  struggle  must  go  on  until 
the  workers  of  the  world  organize  as  a  class,  take"{)osses- 
sion  of  the  earth  and  the  machinery  of  production,  and 
al^olish  the  wage  system. 

^  "We  find  that  the  centering  of  the  management  of  in- 
dustries into  fewer  and  fewer  hands  makes  the  trade  unions 
unable  to  cope  with  the  ever  growing  power  of  the  employ- 
ing class.  The  trade  unions  foster  a  state  of  affairs  which 
allows  one  set  of  workers  to  be  pitted  against  another  set^ 
of  workers  in  the  same  industry,  thereby  helping  defeat  one 
another  in  wage  wars.  Moreover,  the  trade  unions  aid  the 
employing  class  to  mislead  the  workers  into  the  belief  that 
the  working  class  have  interests  in  common  with  their  em- 
ployers. 

"These  conditions  can  be  changed  and  the  interests  of 
the/ working  class  upheld  only  by  an  organization  formed 
in  such  a  way  that  all  its  members  in  any  one  industry,  or 
in  all  industries,  if  necessary,  cease  work  whenever  a  strike 
or  lockout  is  on  in  any  department  thereof,  thus  making  an 
injury  to  one  an  uijury  to  all. 

"Instead  of  the  conservative  motto,  'A  fair  day's  wage 
for  a  fair  day's  work,'  we  must  inscribe  on  our  banner  the 
revolutionary  watchword,  'Abolition  of  the  Wage  System.* 

"It  is  the  historic  mission  of  the  working  class  to  do 
away  with  capitalism.  The  atmy  of  production  must  be  or- 
ganized, not  only  for  the  every  day  struggle  with  capitalists, 
but  also  to  carry  on  production  when  capitalism  shall  have 
been  averthrown.  By  organizing  industrially  we  are  form- 
ing the  structure  of  the  new  society  within  the  shell  of  the 
old.'' 

• 

What  Do  They  Think? 

"Considering  their  opportunity,  the  I.  W.  W.  read  and  discuss 
abstractions  to  a  surprising  extent.  In  their  libraries  the  few 
novels  are  white-paged,  while  a  translation  of  Karl  Marx  or 
Kautsky,  or  the  dull  and  theoretical  pamphlets  of  their  own 

leaders,  are  dog-eared."  — Carlton  H.  Parker. 

Iff-  ' 

What  They  Want 

"The  rebelling  spirit  of  the  I.  W.  W.  is  at  least  a  wholesome 
disquieter  of  this  sleep.  If  we  add  to  this  its  own  awakening 
appeal  to  the  more  unfavored  labor  in  which  its  propaganda  is 
carried  on,  we  are  merely  recognizing  forces  that  are  useful 

18 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


until  a  wiser  way  is  found  to  do  their  work.  /This  we  have  not 
yet  found,  neither  have  we  greatly  and  searchingly  tried  to  find 
it.  So  many  are  our  social  inhumanities  that  the  rudest  upset- 
ting will  do  us  good  if  the  shock  of  it  forces  us  to  do  our  duties. 

"With  much  of  the  motive  of  the  I.  W.  W.  we  may  also 
sympathize.  The  goal  at  which  they  aim  is  one  from  which 
every  parasitic  and  unfair  privilege  shall  be  cut  out.  I  asked 
one  of  the  best  of  thern  'What  ultimately  do  you  want?' 
"I  want  a  world,"  he  said,  "in  which  every  man  shall  get  exactly 
what  he  earns  and  all  he  earns — a  world  in  which  no  man  can 
live  on  the  labor  of  another." 

*Tt  is  not  conceivable  that  any  rational  person  should  deny 
the  justice  and  reasonableness  of  that  ideal*  Every  step  toward 
it  is  a  step  nearer  a  decent  and  more  self-respecting  society." 

— John  Graham  Brooks. 


19 


THE  FACTS  ABOUT  THE  L  W.  W. 


1.   ITS  MEMBERSHIP. 

"The  I.  W.  W.  is  a  union  of  unskilled  workers  in  large  part 
employed  in  agriculture  and  in  the  production  of  raw  materials. 
While,  the  I.  W.  W.  appeared  in  the  East  at  Lawrence,  Paterson 
and  certain  other  places,  at  the  height  of  strike  activity,  its 
normal  habitat  is  ip  the  upper  Middle  West  and  the.  far  West, 
from  British  Columbia  down  into  old  Mexico.  But  within  the 
past  year,  apart  from  the  Dakota  wheatfields  and  the  iron  ranges 
of  Minnesota  and  Michigan,  the  zone  6f  important  activities  has 
been  Arizona,  California,  Washington,  Id^ho,  Montana  and  Col- 
orado. The  present  war  time  I.  W.  W.  problem  is  that  of  its 
activity  in  the  far  West. 

"It  is  fortunate  for  our  analysis  that  the  I.  W.  W.  member- 
ship in  the  West  is  consistently  of  one  type,  and  one  which  has 
had  a  uniform  economic  experience.  It  is  made  up  of  migratory 
workers  currently  called  hobo  labor.  The  terms  "hobo  miner," 
"hobo  lumberjack,"  and  "blanket  stiff"  are  familiar  and  necessary 
in  accurate  descriptions  of  Western  labor  conditions.  Very  few 
of  these  migratory  workers  have  lived  long  enough  in  any  one 
place  to  establish  a  legal  residence  and  to  vote,  and  they  are  also 
womanless.  Only  about  ten  per  cent,  have  been  married,  and 
these,  for  the  most  part,  either  have  lost  their  wives  or  have 
deserted  them.  Many  claim  to  be  "working  out,"  and  expect 
eventually  to  return  to  their  families.  But  examination  usually 
discloses  the  fact  that  they  have  not  sent  money  home  recently, 
or  received  letters.   They  are  ^floaters'  in  every  social  sense." 

—Carlton  H.  Parker. 

"I  have  many  times  asked  young  men  and  women  what  first 
caught  their  interest.  From  the  best  of  them  it  is  invariably 
this — "Nothing  has  yet  been  done  for  labor  at  the  bottom.  Where 
it  is  helpless,  ignorant,  without  speech,  it  has  been  neglected  and 
abused.  It  is  pushed  into  every  back  alley  and  into  all  work 
that  is  hardest  and  most  dangerous.  Society  forgets  it.  The 
trade  unions  that  should  befriend  it  forget  it  too.  Now  comes 
the  I.  W.  W.  with  the  first  bold  and  brotherly  cry  which  these 
ignored  masses  have  ever  heard."    — John  Graham  Brooks. 


20 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


"To  associate  the  I.W.W.  with  a  ruffian  clutching  a  smoking 
bomb  is  a  silliness  that  need  not  detain  us.  It  is  true  that  no 
revolutionary  movement  is  without  its  criminals.  They  were 
ubiquitous  in  our  War  of  the  Revolution.  They  foUow'ed  the 
wake  of  Garibaldi,  and  Mazzini  was  nev^r  free  from  them.  They 
were  among  the  English  Chartists,  and  never  have  been  absent 
from  Ireland's  long  struggle  for  self-rule.  The  I.  W.  W.  will  not 
escape  this  common  destiny.  It  will  attract  to  itself  many  ex- 
tremely frail  human  creatures,  but  the  movement  as  a  whole  is 
not  to  be  condemned  by  these  adherents  or  by  the  shabby  device 
of  using  panicky  terms  like  anarchist. — John  Graham  Brooks. 

"The  membership  of  the  I.W.W.  which  pays  regular  dues  is 
an  uncertain  and  volatile  thing.  While  a  careful  study  in  Cali- 
fornia in  1915  showed  but  forty-five  hundred  affiliated  members 
of  the  I.  W.  W.  in  that  state,  it  was  very  evident  that  the  func- 
tioning and  striking  membership  was  double  this  or  more.  In 
the  state  of  Washington,  in  the  lumber  strike  of  this  year,  the 
1.  W.  W.  membership  was  most  probably  not  over  three  thousand, 
but  the  number  of  those  active  in  the  strik*e  and  joining  in  sup- 
port of  the  I.  W.  W.  numbered  approximately  seven  thousand. 
A  careful  estimate  of  the  membership  in  the  United  States  gives 
seventy-five  thousand.  In  the  history  of  American  labor  there 
has  appeared  no  organization  so  subject  to  fluctuation  in  mem- 
bership and  strength."  ;  — Carlton  H.  Parker. 

Of  the  membership  of  the  I.  W.  W.  in  the  northwestern 
lumber  camps  the  President's  Mediation  Commission  says  : 

"Partly  the  rough  pioneer  character  of  the  industry, 
but  largely  the  failure  to  create  a  healthy  social  environ- 
ment, has  resulted  in  the  migratory,  drifting  character  of 
workers.  Ninety  per  cent,  of  those  in  the  camps  are  de-  ' 
scribed  by  one  of  the  wisest  students  of  the  problem,  not  too 
inaccurately,  as  Vomanless,  voteless  and  jobless.'  The  fact 
is  that  about  90  per  cent,  of  them  are  unmaf'ried.  Their 
work  is  most  intermittent,  the  annual  labor  turnover  reach- 
ing the  extraordinary  figure  of  over  600  per  cent.  There 
has  been  a  failure  to  make  of  these  camps  communities. 
It  is  not  to  be  wondered,  then,  that  in  too  many  of  these 
workers  the  instinct  of  workmanship  is  impaired.  They 
are — or,  rather,  have  been  made — disintegrating  forces  in 
society." 

21    i  I 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


2.   ITS  ORGANIZATION. 

"The  Industrial  Workers  have  an  organization  that  is  na- 
tional and  embraces  a  dozen  great  industries.  It  is  not  very 
compact ;  it  cannpt  be,  dealing  with  men  to  whom  a  home  is  an 
impossible  liixury,  men  who  are  made  migratory  by  their  work. 
The  membership  fluctuates  widely,  but  has  been  in^creasing 
steadily.  It  is  something  like  a  bank  account,  deposits  and  with- 
drawals offsetting  each  other,  but  not  varying  that  greatly.  Its 
members  come  and  go,  joining  during  a  strike  but  dropping  out 
afterward.  It  is  difficult  for  the  officers  themselves  to  tell  what 
the  membership  is  at  a  particular  time. 

"There  ar^  eleven  industrial- unions,  with  others  in  process 
of  formation:  Marine  Transport  Workers  Union  No.  100  (At- 
lantic Coast),  Metal  and  Machinery  Workers,  Agricultural 
Workers,  Lumber  Workers,  Construction  Workers  (composed 
mostly  of  laborers  on  railroads  and  the  comparatively  unskilled 
in  similar  industries).  Railway  Workers  (embracing  men  em- 
ployed in  any  way  in  transportation),  Marine  Transport  Work- 
ers' Union  No.  700  (Pacific  Coast),  Metal  Mine  Workers,  Coal 
Miners,  Textile  Workers.  A  union  of  domestic  servants  has 
been  started  on  th^  Pacific  Coast. 

"The  Industrial  Workers  operate  chiefly  among  the  unskilled 
and  immigrant  workers  whom  the  trade  union  does  not  reach. 
They  organize  the  men  who  dig  tunnels  and  lay  railrdad  ties  and 
fell  trees  in  the  forests — the  most  poorly  pai(^  and  ill-treated. 
They  speak  for  those  whom  a  short-sighted  society  ignores ; 
p  theirs  is  a  voice  from  the  bottom.  And  it  is  answered  with  mili- 
tary stockades !"  — Harold  Callender. 

"This  tenacity  of  life  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  I.  W.  W. 
not  only  is  incapable  of  legal  death,  but  has  in  fact  no  formal 
politico-legal  existence.  Its  treasury  is  merely  the  momentary 
accumulation  of  strike  funds.  Its  numerous  headquarters  are  the 
result  of  the  energy  of  local  secretaries.  They  are  not  places  for 
executive  direction  of  the  union  so"  much  as  gregcjrious  centres 
where  the  lodging-house  inhabitant  or  the  hobo  with  his  blanket 
can  find  light,  a  stove,  and  companionship.  In  the  prohibition 
^states  of  the  West,  the  1.  W.  W.  hall  has  been  the  only  social 
Gubstitute  for  the'- saloon  for  these  people. 

"The  migratory  workers  have  almost  all  seen  better  eco- 
nomic and  social  days,  and  carry  down  into*  their  disorganized 
labor  level  traditions,  if  only  faint  ones,  of  some  c^egree  of 
dignity  and  intellectual  life.  To  these  old-time  desires  the  head- 
quarters cater.    In  times  of  strike  and  disorder  the  headquarters 


»  22 


The  Trut^  About  the  L  W.  W. 


become  the  center  of  the  direct"*propagarida  of  action ;  but  when 
this  is  over  its  character  changes  to  that  of  a  rest-house,  and  as 
such  is  unique  in  the  unskilled  workers'  history." 

'    — Carlton  H.  Barker.  ' 

"Every  member  is  an  organizer,  every  member  dispenses 
cards  to  his  converts  and  collects  their  dues,  which  he  scrupu- 
lously sends  to  the  union.  There  are  only  a  few  unions,  about  a 
dozen,  each  uniorf  embracing  an  industry:  the  ideal  of  the  In^ 
dustrial  Worker  is^  "one  big  union."  Each  union  is  divided  into 
district  branches  on  geographical  lines,  and  each  district  has  an 
executive  committee  and  secretary,  and  the  same  officers  in  each 
industrial  union. 

"Only  the  membership  by  vote  may  call  a  strike,  "except  in  * 
case  of  emergency";  but  such  is  the  informality  and  cohesion 
of  the  organization  that  a  strike  call  by  a  "secretary  is  almost 
tantamount  to  a  strike.  A  sort  of  "straw  vote"  is  usually  taken 
in  advance,  and  often  there  is  no  other  vote.  It  woul4  be  diffi- 
cult for  the  members  of  a  union  to  ballot  on  a  strike  proposal, 
dnd  would  require  a  long  time."   /       — Harold  Callender. 

Where  It  Gets  Its  Hold. 

"In  all  that  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain  about^utbreaks  in 
thirteen  Eastern  a^d  Western  communities  the  I.  W.  W.  got  its  , 
grip  where  trade  unionism  had  been  beaten,  or  had  no  existence, 
or  had  been  so  weakened  as  to  offer  little  resistance.    .    .  . 

"It  is  this  war-origin  of  the  1.  W.  W.  which  is  its  weakness 
on  the  constructive  side.  That  it  is  a  child  of  strife,  brings  back 
upon  itself  the  very  qualities  which  are  admirable  for  battle,  but 
which  make  stability  and  organization  impossible.  They  lead  to 
the  quarrels  which  disrupt  the  attempts  a/t  steady  team  worl^ 
from  the  very  start.  The  practical  danger  to  the  I.  W.  W.  is 
absence  of  trouble.  If  industry  were  so  organizp.d  as  to  prevent 
strikes,  the  I.  W.  W.  would  disappear.  ... 

"On  the  first  approach  of  definite  responsibility  the  I.  W.  W. 
reflect,  compare  and  balance.  They  act  as  the,  politician  acts.  In 
the  high  flights  of  agitation,  demands  are  sweeping  and  all  things" 
promised.  'There  shall  be  no  compromise  with  the  wage  system 
because  it  is  robbery,'  are  words  I  heard  from  a  speaker  in  the 
Lawrence  strike.  But  on  the  first  assurance  that  the  battle  was 
to  be  won,  compromise  was  a  necessity.  With  as  much  shrewd- 
ness as  haste,  the  strikers  took  to  the  ordinary  bartering  of  prac- 


23 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


tical  men.    As  the  theory  passed  into  a  situation  that  must  be 
K  met,  they  met  it  in  the  spirit  of  a  sensible  trade  union  or  an  arbi- 

tration board— the  spirit  of  a  wholesome  opportunism." 

— John  Graham  Brooks. 


3.   RELATIONS  WITH  EMPLOYERS. 

"The  characteristic  of  the  I.  W.  W.  movement  most  worthy 
of  serious  consideration  is  the  decay  of  the  ideals  of  thrift  and 
industry.  To  this  can  be  added,  in  place  of  the  old-time  tradi- 
tional loyalty  to  the  employer,  a  sustained  antagonism  to  him. 
The  casual  laborer  of  the  West  drifts  away  from  his  job  without 
reflection^as  to  the  effect  of  this  on  the  welfare  of  the  employer ; 
he  feels  little  interest  in  tlie  quality  of  workmanship,  and  is  al- 
ways, not  only  a  potential  striker,  but  reaciy  to  take  up  political 
or  legal  war  against  the  employing  cla^s.  This  sullen  hostility 
has  been  pteadily  growing  in  the  last  ten  years.  It  is  not  as 
melodramatic  as  sabotage,  but  vastly  'mor6  important." 

— Carlton  H.  Parker. 

The  President's  Commission  says  of  the  relations  with  em- 
ployers: 

"This  uncompromising  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  em- 
ployers has  reaped  for  them  an  organization  of  destructive 
rather  than  constructive  radicalisni.  The  I.  W.  W.  is  filling 
the  vacuum  created  by  the  operators.  The  red  card  is  car- 
ried by  large  numbers  throughout  the  Pacific  Northwest.  j 
Efforts  to  rectify  evils  through  the  trade-union  movement 
have  largely  failed  because  of  the  small  headway  trade 
unions  are  able  to  make.  Operators  cl4im  that  the  nature 
of  the  industry  presents  inherent  obstacles  to  unionization. 
But  a  dominant  reason  is  to  be  found  in  the  bitter  attitude 
of  the  operators  toward  any  organization  among  their  em- 
ployees." 

And  Robert  Bruere  puts  the  issue  in  an  incident  of  his 
western  trip:  

"When  I  had  my  first  interview  with  an  Arizona  mine 
manager,"  he  says,  "and/tpld  him  that  what  I  wanted  was 
to  make  a  dispassionate 'and  impartial  report  of  the  facts 
behind  the  strikes  and  the  deportations,  he  was  magnani- 
mous enough  to  say  that  he  was  convinced  that  I  would  be 
impartial. 


24 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


"  'But/  he  proceeded,  'however  impartial  you  may  be 
your  decision  is  bound  to  go  against  us/ 
"Why?"  I  asked  in  surprise. 

"  'Because/  he  concluded,  'you  believe  in  democracy  and 
we  don't  run  our  mines  on  a  democratic  basis/  " 

4.   RELATIONS  WITH  THE  A.  F.  OF  L.  UNIONS. 

"That  their  efforts  are  ordinary  and  legitimate  in  the  trade- 
union  sense,  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that,  as  I  shall  show,  unions 
affiliated  with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  throughout  the 
West  generally  sympathize  with  and  support  the  struggle  of  the 
1.  W.  W,  The  old  hostility  between  the  two  movements  has 
begun  largely  to  be  broken  down,  and  the  1.  W.  W-,  far  from 
being  regarded  by  the  working  class  as  criminal  or  treasonable, 
has  been  accepted  simply  as  one  of  the  means  of  securing  their 
rights/'  — Harold  Callender. 

"For  those  who  care  to  see,  there  is  abundant  evidence  that 
the  trade-union  movement  in  the  United  States  has  become  revo- 
lutionary. The  much  advertised  split  between  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  and  the  L  W.  W.  is  bridged  over  with  sig- 
nificant ease  when  the  prosecution  of  an  I.  W.  W.  case  suggests 
the  class  struggle.  This  temper  has  not  prevented  the  leaders  of 
the  American  Federation  from  giving  the  support  of  a  tradi- 
tional American  patriotism  to  the  prlesent  war,  but  no  publicist  of 
note  has  dared  to  analyze  the  spread  of  embarrassing  strikes 
throughout  the  United  States  during  the  past  two  months,  the 
most  critical  months  of  our  war  activities.    .    .    .j  . 

"A  statement  that  the  present  industrial  order  and  its  control 
promise  a  reasonable  progress  and  happiness  (and  this  the  middle 
class  are  forced  to  claim),  is  received  as  a  humorous  observation, 
not  only  by  the  I.  W.  W.,  but  by  American  trade-unionism  as 
well."  — Carlton  H.  Parker. 


25 


I 


SABOTAGE  AND  VIOLENCE^" 


What  Is  Sabotage? 


"In  substance,  it  is  as  old  as  the  strike  itself.  It  is  a  special- 
ized farm  of  making  trouble  for  the  employer.  Trade  unions 
have  been  as  familiar  with  its  uses  as  with  any  other  weapon  in 
their  fighting  career.  It  is  the  familiar  "ca  canny"  of  the  Scotch 
which  got  much  advertising  at  the  strike  of  Glasgow  dockers  in 
1889.  They  had  asked  a  rise  of  wages  which  was  refused.  Tte 
union  official  instructed  the  men  in  sabotage.  Farm  laborers  had 
been  brought  in  to  fill  the  places  of  the  strikers.  *Let  us  go 
back  to  the  job/  said  the  official,  'and  do  it  exactly  as  the  land 
lubbers  do  it.  Those  butterfingers  break  things  and  drop  things 
into  the  water  from  the  docks.  See  to  it,  lads,  that  you  imitate 
them  until  the  masters  learn  their  lesson.  If  they  like  that  kind 
of  work,  let  them  have  plenty  of  it.' "  — John  Graham  Brooks 

And  speaking  of  a  common  form  known  in  France  as  "open- 
mouth  sabotage,"  Mr.  Brooks  says: 

"I  have  som.etimes  heard  this  delicate  cruelty  of  exact  truth 
telling  recommended  by  tl^e  I.  W.  W.  as  one  of  the  most  per- 
fected forms  of  sabotage  for  clerks  and  retail  vendors  generally. 
*Get  together,  study  the  foods,  spices,  candies,  and  every  adulter- 
ated product.  Study  the  weights  and  measures,  aiid  all  of  you 
tell  the  exact  truth  to  every  customer.' 

"This  is  near  akin  to  something  far  more  widely  practiced. 
For  railway  employees  to  submit  an  exact  obedience  to  every 
rule  under  which  they  work,  is  to  create  instant  havoc  on  that 
road.  A  train  is  not  started  on  schedule  1:ick  while  two  or  three 
old  ladies  are  in  the  act  of  climbing  onto  the  car.  There  has 
always  to  be  the  'margin  of  discretion'  in  applying  rules.  French 
and  Italia^n  Syndicalists  brought'  utmost  confusion  to  the  rail- 
roads /by  their  'conspiracy  of  literal  obedience.' " 

Its  Purpose.  ■ 
''The  advantages  which  are  supposed  to  follow  a  shrewd  use 
of  sabotage  are  that  it  enables  the  men  to  hold  their  job,  even 
while  half  ruining  it.   The  risk  and  waste  of  long  strikes  have 


'-^26 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


been  learned.  Sabotage,  "if  made  an  intellectual  process,"  may 
strike  at  the  employer  a  swifter  and  more  deadly  blow  and  les- 
sen the  chances  of  scabbing.    .    .  . 

"The  I.  W.  W.  journals  have  an  ample  stock  of  informing 
suggestions  to  show  the  high  values  of  this  invention.  A  little 
half-heartedly  they  insist  that  violence  is  stupid,  because  the 
objects  of  sabotage  can  be  reached  with  more  subtle  effectiveness 
without  it.    .    .  . 

"The  truth  about  sabotage  is  that  its  essence  is  destruction. 
All  the  dulcet  phrases  about  'mere  passive  resistance,*. 'only  fold 
the  arms  or  put  your  hands  in  your  pockets  and  keep  them  there,' 
of,  as  I  heard  a  speaker  say,  'Why,  youVe  nothing  to  do  but 
just  stand  round  and  look  sweet, —all  this  does  not  hide  the  fact 
that  the  machinery  of  production  is  stopped  and  to  that  extent 
productio\i  (wealth)  is  destroyed."  — John  Graham  Brooks. 

Sabotage  in  Business. 

The.  practice  of  sabotage  is  by  no  means  confined  to  the 
working  clalsses : 

"The  word  has  by  usage  c6me-  to  have  an-  altogether  un- 
graceful air  of  disapproval.  Yet  it  signifies  nothing  more  vicious 
than  "a  deliberate  obstruction  or  retardation  ^of  industry,  usually 
by  legitimate  means,  for  the  sake  of  some  personal  or  partisan 
advantage.  This  morally  colorless  meaning  is  all  that  is  intended 
in  its  use  here.  It  is  extremely  common  in  all  industry  that  is 
designed  to  supply  merchantable  goods  for  the  market.  It  is,  in 
fact,  the  most  ordinary  and  ubiquitous  of  all  expedients  in  busi- 
ness enterprise  that  has  to  do  with  supplying  the  market,  being 
always  present  in  the  business  man's  necessary  calculations; 
being  not  only  a  usual  and  convenient  recourse  but  quite  indis- 
pensable as,  an  habitual  measure  of  business  sagacity.  So  that  no 
personal  blame  can  attach  to  its  employment  by  any  given  busi- 
ness man  or  business  concern.  It  is  only  when  measures  of 
this  nature  are  resorted  to  by  employees,  to  gain  sohie  end  of 
their  own,  that  such  conduct  becomes  (technically)  reprehensible. 

— Thorstein  Vehlen. 

"It  is  an  established,  even  an  obvious  fact  that  the  upper 
reaches  of  business  and  society  possess  their  1.  W.  W.  The  state 
of  mind  characterized  by  ruthlessness,  high  egotism,  ignoring  of 
the  needs  and  helplessness  of  much  of  society,  breaks  out  at 
different  social  levels  under  different  names,  but  the  human  ele- 
ments and  even  much  of  the  vocabulary  remain  the  same." 

—Carlton  H.  Parker. 

27'  ' . 


 The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W.  

1 

How  Much  Violence? 

"Such  recourse  has  great  capital,  that  it  has  been  able  to 
cloak  its  evil  doing  in  veiled,  legal  decencies,  while  labor  must 
go  to  its  sinning  naked  and  exposed.  This  toe  the  public  has 
learnedJ  It  has  learned  it  so  v^ell  that  conspicuous  business  can 
no  longer  act  in  the  spirit  of  "I'll  manage  my  business  as  I  like." 

— John  Graham  Brooks. 

Says  the  President's  Commission  of  the  practical  application 
of  the  1.  W.  W.  theory  of  sabotage :  ^ 

"Membership  in  the  1.  W.  W.  by'  no  means  implies  belief 
in  or  understanding  of  its  philosophy.  To  a  majority  of 
the  members  it  is  a  bond  of  groping  fellov^ship.  Accord- 
ing to  the  estimates  of  conservative  students  of  the  phe- 
^.  '  nomenon  a  very  small  percentage  of  the  L  W.  W.  are  really 
understanding  follov^ers  of  subversive  doctrine.  The  1.  W. 
W.  is  seeking  results  by  dramatizing  evils  and  by'  romantic 
promises  of  relief.  The  hold  of  the  I.  W.  W.  is  riveted 
instead  of  v^eakened  by  unimaginative  opposition  on  the 
part  of  employers  to  the  correction  of  r,eal  grievances — an 
opposition  based  upon  academic  fear  that  granting  just  de- 
mands will  lead  to  unjust  demands.  The  greatest  difficulty 
in  the  industry  is  the  tenacity  of  old  habits  of  individualism. 
,  The  co-operative  spirit  is  only  just  beginning.". 

Prof.  Parker's  testimony  as  to  the  extent  of  actual  violence 
to  property  in  the  West  is  enlightening: 

"The  American  I.  W.  W.  is  a  neglected  and  lonely  hobo 
worker,  usually  malnourished  and  in  need  of  medical  care.  He 
is  as  far  from  being  a  scheming  syndicalist,  after  the  French 
model,  as  the  imagination  might  conceive.  His  proved  sabotage 
activities  in  the  West  total  up  a  few  hop  kiln  burnings.  Com- 
pared to  the  widespread  sabotage  in  prison  industries,  where  a 
startlingly  large  percentage  of  materisds  is  intentionally  ruined, 
the  I.  W.  W.  performailce  is  not  worth  mentioning." 

Robert  Bruere  quotes  this  significant  statement  made  to 
him  by  lumber  operators  in  Washington  in  the  fall  of  1917: 

"In  discussing  the  situation  with  me  certain  large  lumber 
operators  said  in  effect:  Every  large  labor  organization  like  the 
I.  W.  W.  in  this  State  will  draw  to  itself  a  certain  smalb  per- 
centage— say  2  per  cent.— of  irresponsible  men.  The  proportion 
of  such  men  aligned  with  the  I.  W.  W.  is  about  the  same  that 
we  find  in  our  own  business  organizations.  But  in  war— and  a 
strike  is  war — anything  is  fair.    We  have  fought  the  1.  W.  W. 

28 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


as  we  would  have  fought  any  attempt  of  the  A.  F.  of  L.  unions 
to  control  the  workers  in  our  camps.  And,  of  course,  we  have 
taken  advantage  of  the  general  prejudice  against  them  as  an 
unpatriotic  organization  to  beat  their  strike.  To  bring  the 
charge  of  violence  against  the  I.  W.  W.  as  an  organization  is 
not  only  wrong  in  the  face  of  the  facts,  but  it  is  unsound  and 
short-sighted  business  poHcy.  And  as  for  the  charge  that  they 
will  not  enter  into  time-agreements,  while  it  is  true  of  them,  it 
is  equally  true  of  us.  We  have  been  consistently  opposed  to 
collective  agreements  and  we  are  opposed  to  the  recognition  of 
any  labor  organization  now."  — Robert  Bruere. 

There  is  obviously  a  sincere  effort  to  put  the  case  right 
from  the  I.  W.  W.  standpoint  in  this  statement  recently  issued 
officially  by  an  I.  W.  W.  organization : 

''To  the  Public,  and  Particularly  to  Working  Men  and  Women: 
"The  I.  W.  W.  wishes  to  warn  society  in  general  that^ 
despite  the  lying  statements  in  the  capitalist  press  regard- 
ing this  organization,  society  has  nothing  whatever  to  fear 
from  the  1.  W.  W.  We  wish  you  to  understand  that  the 
I.  W.  W.  has  no  intentions  of  resorting-  to  violence  in  any 
form  in  retaliation  for  the  numerous  outrages  perpetrated 
on  our  members  throughout  the  country. 

"There  is  nothing  destructive  in  the  policies  or  tactics 
of  the  I.  W.  W. ;  in  fact,  our  policy  is  io  elevate,  not  to  tear 
down.  The  history  of  the  labor  movement  will  show  that 
the  I.  W.  W.  has  never  used  violence  in  their  strikes  or 
struggles  for  better  conditions  and  more  of  the  good  things 
of  life.  The  I.  W.  W.  has  been  accused  of  every  act  of  vio- 
lence imaginable.  Our  members  have  been  murdered, 
beaten,  thrown  into  jail,  subject,  to  every  abuse  that  the 
master  class  could  hire  thugs  to  do.  And,  always  remember 
that  the  excuse  for,  so  dojng  was  the  crimes  that  the  I.  W. 
W.  was  supposed  to  be  going  to  do,  not  for  crimes  or  acts 
committed,  but  for  crimes  that  the  1.  W.  W.  was  supposed 
to  do  in  the  future.  Tulsa,  Okla.,  and  Aberdeen,  S.  D.,  are 
good  examples  of  the  hysterical  condition  that  society  has 
been  wrought  up  to  by  the  lying  statements  and  insidious 
rumors  of  the  capitalists'  tools  and  the  press.  Don't  believe 
them." 

Testimony  of  the  peaceful  character  of  a  great  1.  W.  W. 
strike  is  given  in  the  following  from  the  account  of  the  Paterson 
silk-workers'  strike  in  1913 — John  A.  Fitch,  in  the  "Survey": 

29 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


"There  have  been  during  the  strike  more  than  1,000  arrests 
of  strikers — and  yet  I  have  the  word  of  the  chief  of  .police  of 
Patersion  that  considering  numbers  and  duration  this  is  one  of 
the  most  peaceful  strikes  on  record.*  No  silk  worker  desiring 
to  return  to  work,  the  c^iief  told  me  on  May  22,  has  ever  needed 
police  protection  against  the  pickets,  and  there  has  not  been  a 
single  case  of  assault  on  a  'scab*  by  a  striker  that  has  come  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  police." 


30 


/ 


THE  I.  W.  W.  AND  THE  WAR. 


THE  FACTS. 

By  Geo.  P.  West. 

1.    The  Industrial  Struggle  in  War  Time. 

The  investigations  of  President  Wilson's  Mediation  Com- 
mission and  its  final  report  (Jan.,  1918)  have  established  the 
important  facts,  first,  that  conditions  of  employment  and  the 
arbitrary  attitude  of  the  employing  corporations  v^ere  primarily 
responsible  (for  labor  unrest  during  the  war;  second,  that  the 
strikes  were  unusually  free  from  violence  on  the  part'bf  the  men, 
the  great  majority  of  whom,  according  to  the  President's 'Com- 
mission, were  loyal  to  the  Government  and  actuated  primarily 
and  solely  by  a  desire  to  better  their  condition. 

What  distinguished  the  1.  W.  W.  strikes  from  hundreds  of 
others  |hat  have  passed  almost  unnoticed  was  neither  their  vio- 
lence nor  the  absence  of  such  substantial  grievances  as  have 
always  been  held  by  public  opinion  in  this  country  to  justify  use 
of  the  strike  weapon.  It  was  rather  the  propensity  of  I.  W.  W. 
leaders  to  talk  in  terms  of  an  industrial  revolution,  to  be  brought 
about  by  the  workers  through  organization  and  the  use  of  their 
organized  power  eventually  to  dictate  the  terms  on  which  any 
particular  industry  manned  by  them  was  to  be  conducted. 

This  propaganda  contemplates  the  eventual  establishment  of 
autonomous -industries,  each  governed  democratically  by  those 
who  work  therein,  and  the  building  up  of  a  society  in  which  these 
various  industrial  or  economic  groups  shall  take  the  pla^'  of 
political  government,  wjiich  would  be  superseded  by  some  agency 
for  adjusting  and  reconciling  the  interests  of  the  various  groups. 

It  is  a  revolutionary  philosophy,  and  when  translated  into 
the  vigorous  vocabulary  of  the  miner  or  lumber jack^  the  preach- 
ing of  it  shecks  and  outrages  the  preconceptions  not  only  of 
employers  and  capitalists,  but  of  the  middle  class  as  well.  Yet, 
in  substance,  it  differs  little  from  the  vision  of  the  future  |;hat 
is  held  and  has  been  outlined  by  some  of  the  most  eminent  states- 
men and  economists  of  this  country  and  England.    But  the 

31 


The  Truth  About  the  L  W.  W. 


preaching  of  this  philosophy  in  rough  language  by  uncouth  work- 
ingmen  is  another  matter. 

,  Nor  is  it  to  be  denied  that'  the  tragic  experiences  of  these 
agitators  for  a  new  social  order  had  filled  some  of  them  with 
bitterness  and  hatred.  Yet  such  investigators  as  Mr.  Robert 
Bruere  have  found  the  rank  and  file  remarkably  ^ee  of  such 
feeling,  pathetically  eager  to  acknowledge  and  welcome  evi- 
dences of  understanding  and  fairness  on  the  part  of  employers 
or  government  officials,  and  with  a  strike-record  remarkably  free 
from  violence. 

But  their  seemingly  wild  and  destructive  theories  had  given 
them  an  evil  reputation  in  the  minds  of  the  well-to-do,  the 
conventionally-minded,  and  those  too  busy  or  preoccupied 
to  investigate  for  themselves.  And  this  reputation  had  been 
fostered  and  maintained  very  deliberately  and  very  successfully 
by  employers  determined  to  resist  any  movement  looking  toward 
more  democracy  in  industry,  whether  it  took  the  form  of  con- 
ventional unionism  or  the  industrial  unionism  of  the  I.  W.  W. 

2.   The  Employer's  Attitude. 

We  have,  in  that  situation,  the  background  for  what  occurred 
in  the  summer  of  1917.  Preaching  doctrines  that  had  seemed 
startling  enough  during  peace  times,  the  I.  W.  W.,  at  the  first 
sign  that  its  members  would  join  in  the  universal  demand  for 
more  wages,  fell  an  easy  prey  to  reactionary  emplc^yers,  who 
could  now  rely,  not  only  on  the  peace-time  prejudice  which  the 
1.  W.  W.  had  created  against  themselves,  but  on  the  intense 
pbpular  feeling  so  easy  to  stir  up  against  any  group  that  could 
be  placed  in  the  position  of  disloyal  obstructionists. 

I.  W.  W.  doctrines  have  not  changed.  For  twelve; years 
the  Federal  Government  has  left  them  free  to  preach  their 
philosophy  from  coast  to  coast.  But  on  the  outbreak  of  the 
war  it  became  easy  for  interested  employers  to  place  those 
doctrines  in  a  new  light — a  light  that  gave  them  the  appearance 
of  rank  treason.  The  mistake  made  by  many  is  in  taking  too 
seriously  the  admittedly  wild  and  foolish  utterances  of  a  few 
leaders  who  do  not  adequately  represent  the  rank  and  file,  who 
merely  want  a  square  deal. 

3.    Violence  Against  the  Workers. 

The  first  open  violence  came  in  July  with  the  Bisbee,  Ari- 
zona, deportations  by  the  copper  companies.  Miners  on  strike 
were  rounded  up  at  the  point  of  revolvers  and  rifles,  herded  in 


32 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


a  corral,  loaded  onto  box-cars,  and  transported  to  the  middle 
of  a  desert  in  an  adjoining  state.  More  than  four  hundred  of 
them  had  bought  Liberty  ^nds ;  large  numbers  had  registered 
for  the  draft.  Many  were  married  and  had  children.  Wh^n 
finally  released,  they  found  their  path  back  to  their  homes  barred 
by  armed  men,  acting  with  no  authority  save  the  arbitrary 
power  of  the  great  copper-mining  corporations.  The  agents, 
of  these  corporations  had  seized  the  local  telegraph  and  telephone 
stations  and  censored  out-going  dispatches.  They  held  kangaroo 
court  and  passed  judgment  on  who  should  be  permitted  to  remain 
in  the  district,  who  should  be  forcibly  ejected,  and  who  should 
be  permitted  to  enter  from  without.  This  condition  continued 
for  weeks,  in  defiance  of  the  protest  of  the  Governor  of  the 
State. 

The  President's  Commission  after  a  full  investigation  re- 
porte^d  that  all  these  illegal  acts  were  without  justificktion  either 
in  law  or  in  fact,  as  the  striking  miners  had  kept  the  peace  and 
showed  no  evidence  that  they  intended  to  break  it.  On  the  con- 
trary, they  had  met  and  resolved  to  return  to  work  provided  the 
Government  would  take  over  operation  of  the  mines. 

More  specifically,  the  President's  Commission  charged  the 
mining  corporations  and  their  agents  with  specific  violations  of 
federal  statutes  in  interfering  with  interstate  communications 
and  obstructing  registered  men  from  reporting  for  examination 
for  the  draft.  It  brought  these  violations  of  the  law  to  the 
attention  of  Attorney  General  Gregory  at  Washington.  What 
action  did  his  Department  take?  To  date  (March,  1918),  Mr. 
Gregory  has  made  not  a  single  arrest  and  not  one  of  the  per- 
petrators of  the  Bisbee  crimes  has  been  indicted.  On  the  con- 
trary, a  high  official  of  one  of  the  copper  companies,  himself 
directly  concerned  in  the  deportations,  has  been  commissioned  a 
Major  in  the  army,  and  another  has  been  appointed  to  a  high 
position  with  the  Red  Cross. 

Other  flagrant  instances  during  the  war  of  organized  vio- 
lence against  the  I.  W.  W.  by  employing  interests,  with  little  or 
no  attempt  by  public  officials  to  bring  the  offenders  to  pustice, 
have  been :  ) 

(1)  The  hanging  of  Frank  H.  Little  at  Butte,  Mont.,  on 
August  1st.  Little  was  a  member  of  the  executive  board  of  the 
1.  W.  W.,  and  was  in  Butte  acting  as  a  strike-leader.  He  was 
taken  from  his  bed  at  3  A.  M.  by  a  band  of  masked  men^  dragged 

33 


I 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


to  the  outskirts  of  the  cit^,  and  hung  to  a  railroad  trestle. 

(2)  The  whippings  and  outrages  at  Red  Lodge,  Mont., 
committed  on  workers  suspected  of  being  members  of  the  I.  W. 
W.,by  organized  representatives  of  the  employers,  who  held  their 
mock  court  and  inquisitions  in  the  court  house,  and  committed 
the  outrages  in  the  court-house  basement. 

'  (3)  The  whipping,  tarring  and  feathering  of  17  I.  W.  W. 
prisoners  at  Tulsa,  Oklahoma,  November  9,  who  were  taken  from 
the  police  by  a  masked  band  of  "Knights/  bf  Liberty,"  in  an  en- 
deavor to  break  up  the  L  W.  W.  organization  of  the  oil-workers. 

(4)  The  arrests  by  the  militia  of  hundreds  of  I.  W.  Wi 
workers  in  Washington,  without  warrants  or  declaration  gi  mar- 
tial law,  followed  by  their  illegal  detention  for  long  periods 
without  charges  or  trial. 

(5)  Various  outrages  "on  individual  members  of  the  I.  W.  W. 
committed  by  organized  employers'  interests,  in  several  instances 
assisted  by  public  officials— in  places  as  widely  separated  as  Aber- 
deen, S.  D.,  Franklin,  N.  J.,  and  Klamath  Falls,  Oregon. 

4.    The  Department  of  Justice  Attitude. 

r 

It  is  this  record  that  the  L  W.  W.  contrasts  with  that  of 
public  officials  in  dealing  with  a  labor  organization.  The  charge 
against  the  166  L  W.  W.  members  indicted  in  Chicago  is  con- 
spiracy to  obstruct  the  prosecution  of  the  war.  Any  such /ob- 
struction, would,  admittedly,  have  been  incidental  to  the  main 
object  of  improving  wages  and  working  conditions  in  the  mines 
and  lumber  camps. 

In  exactly  the  same  way,  the  lawlessness  of  the  Arizona 
coji^ier  corporations,  primarily  undertaken  in  the  interest  of 
greater  profits  and  of  arbitrary  control,  incidentally  resulted  in 
obstructing  prosecution  of  the  war,  as  specifically  stated  by  the 
President's  Commission. 

Again,  the  National  Association  of  Manufacturers  is  conduct- 
ing a  campaign  against  the  principles  adopted  by  the  federal 
government  for  dealing  with  labor  during  the  war.  That  is,  it 
is  seeking  to  prevent  that  degree  of  union  recognition  and 
co-operative  dealing  with  labor  on  a  collective  basis  that  British 
experience  and  the  best  judgment  of  tlie  President  alike  support 
as  necessary  to  the  prosecution  of  the  war.  But  there  are  no 
indictments  and  no  arrests,  nor  even  a  rebuke. 

That  the  situation  last  sunmier  galled  for  some  action  by 


34 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


the  Department  of  Justice  to  suppress  a  few  extrempLsts  and 
generally  to  sober  the  organization  and  bring  it  to  a  sense  of 
responsibility,  the  writer  believes.  That  such  action  should  be 
more  discriminating  and  accompanied  by  an  attempt  to  under- 
stand the  economic  background  of  the  organization  is  equally 
important.  The  public  mind,  and  that  of  its  agents  in  office, 
should  open  to  an  unbiased  examination  of  the  claim  of  the  I. 
W.  W.  that  it  is  far  fr(>m  being  an  organization  dominated  by 
purposes  that  are  subversive  of  this  country's  purposes  in  the 
war,  and  that  all  its  members  want  in  return  for  their  co-opera- 
tion is  a  "square  deal," — ^in  other  words,  a  "chance"  to  co-operate 
on  fair  terms.  The^  War  Department  and  the  Forest  Service 
have  given  them  that,  with  golden  results. 

The  foregoiijg  statement  should  explain  in  large  part  the, 
psychological  background  for  much  of  the  rabid  1.  W.  W-  talk  and 
extremist  writing  in  I.  W.  W.  papers,  some  of  which  is  featured  in 
the  indictment.  The  I.  W.  W.  leaders  state  that  they  are  only  the 
expression  of  individual  opinions,  and  canpot  be  construed  as  com- 
mitting the  orga^nization.  — Geo,  P.  West. 


THE  VERDICT  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS  MEDIATION 
^  COMMISSION. 

The  Commission,  whose  inquiry  was  chiefly  concerned  with 
strikes  and  unrest  in  western  industries,  in  which  the  I.  W.  W. 
was  a  conspicuous  factor,  concluded: 

(8)  It  is,  then,  to  uncorrected  specific  evils  ^nd  the 
absence  of  a  healthy  spirit  between  capital  and  labor,  due 
partly  to  these  evils  ancj  partly  to  an  unsound  industrial 
structure,  that  we  must  attribute  industrial  difficulties 
which  we  have  experienced  during  the  war.  Sinister  influ- 
ences and  extremist  doctrine  may  have  availed  themselves 
of  these  conditions;  they  certainly  have  not  created  them. 

(9)  In  fact,  the  overwhelming  mass  of  the  laboring 
population  is  in  no  sense  disloyal.  .  .  .  With  the  ex- 
ception of  the  sacrifices  of  the  men  in  the  armed  service, 
the  greatest  sacrifices  have  come  from  those  at  the  lower 
rung  of  the  industrial  ladder.  Wage  increase  responds  last 
to  the  needs  of  this  class  of  labor,  and  their  meagre  returns 
are  hardly  adequate,  in  view  of  the  increased  cost  of  living, 
to  maintain  even  their  meagre  standard  of  life.   It  is  upon 


35 


The  Truth  About  the  L  W.  W. 


them  the  war  pressure  has  borne  most  vSeverely.  Labor 
at  heart  is  as  devoted  to  the  purposes  of  the  Government 
in  the  prosecution  of  this  war  as  any  otlier  part  of  society. 
If  labor's  enthusiasm  is  less  vocal,  and  its  feelings  here  and 
there  tepid,  we  will  find  the  explanation  in  some  of  the 
conditions  of  the  industrial  environment  in  which  labor  is 
placed  and  which  in  many  instances  is  its  nearest  contact 
with  the  activities  of  the  war, 

(a)  Too  often  there  is  a  glaring  inconsistency  between 
our  democratic  purposes  in  this  war  abroad  and  the  auto- 
cratic conduct  of  some  of  those  guiding  industry  at  home. 
This  inconsistency  is  emphasized  by  such  episodes  as  the 
Bisbee  deportations. 

(b)  Personal  bitterness  and  more  intense  industrial 
strife  inevitably  result  when  the  claim  of  loyalty  is  falsely 
resorted  to  by  employers  and  their  sympathizers  as  a  means 
of  defeating  sincere  claims  for  social  justice,  even  though 
such  claims  be  asserted  in  time  of  war. 

(c)  So  long  as  profiteering  is  not  comprehensively  pre- 
vented to  the  full  extent  that  governmental  action  can  pre- 
vent it,  just  so  long  will  a  sense  of  inequality  disturb  the 
fullest  devotion  of  labor's  contribution  to  the  war. 

Commenting  on  the  labor  trouble  in  the "  Southwest  the 
Commission  said: 

As  is  generally  true  of  a  community  serving  a 
single  industry,  there  was  not  the  cooling  atmosphere  of 
outsiders  to  the  conflict.  The  entire  community  was  em- 
broiled. Such  agencies  of  the  "public"  as  the  so-called 
"loyalty  leagues"  only  served  to  intensify  bitterness,  and, 
more  unfortunately,  to  the  minds  of  workers  in  the  West 
served  to  associate  all  loyalty  movements  with  partisan  and  - 
anti-union  aims. 

Here  as  elsewhere  the  attempt  of  parties  on  one  side 
of  an  economic  controversy  to  appropriate  patriotism  and 
stigmatize  the  other  side  with  disloyalty  only  served  to 
intensify  the  bitterness  of  the  struggle,  and  to  weaken  the 
force  of  unity  in  the  country. 
A  better  method  of  dealing  with  the  I.  W.  W.  in  the  war — 
far  more  effective  than  prosecution  to  allay  unrest — ^is  stated  by 
the  Commission  thus : 

Uncorrected  evils   are  the   greatest  provocative  to 
extremist  propaganda,  and  their  correction  in  itself  would 


36 


 The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W.  

be  the  best  counter-propaganda.  But  there  is  need  for  more 
affirmative  education.  There  has  been  too  little  publicity 
of  an  educative  sort  in  regard  to  labor's  relation  to  the  war. 
The  purposes  of  the  Government  and  the  methods  by  w^hich 
it  is  pursuing  them  should  be  brought  home  to  the  fuller 
understanding  of  labor.  Labor  has  most  at  stake  in  this 
war,  and  it  will  eagerly  devote  its  all  if  only  it  be  treated 
with  confidence  and  understanding,  subject  neither  to  indul- 
gence nor  neglect,  but  dealt  with  as  a  part  of  the  citizenship 
of  the  State. 

THE  REPORT  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  LABOR, 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  Labor  (Fifth  Annual,  1917) 
sets  forth  the  record  of  labor  disputes  in  the  period  between  the 
declaration  of  war  (x\pril  6)  and  October  25,  1917.  The  report 
states  that  "the  number  of  labor  disputes  calling  for  government 
mediation  increased  suddenly  and  enormously  with  the  beginning 
of' the  war." 

An  examination  of  the  record  of  the  521  disputes  handled  by 
the  Department  in  the  war  period  to  October  25  (281  strikes, 
212  controversies  and  28  lockouts)  shows  that  only  three  out  of 
the  total  of  521  involved  the  L  W.  W.  in  any  way  (copper-miners, 
Arizona,  mine-workers,  Butte,  Montana,  and  ship-yard  workers, 
Washington.  In  both  the  mine-workers*  strikes  an  ^.  F.  of  L. 
union  was  involved  besides — the  Mine,  Mill  and  Smelter  Work- 
ers' Union).  All  the  others  occurred  in  industries  either  unor- 
ganized, or  organized  by  unions  affiliated  with  the  A.  F.  of  L.  or 
the  so-called  "conservative"  international  unions.  (Fifth  Annual 
Report,  Secretary  of  Labor,  pp.  41-49,  60.) 

comparison  of  the  reports  of  the  Department  of  Labor 
also  shows  a  larger  proportion  of  labor  controversies  involving 
the  L  W.  W.  in  the  years  preceding  our  entry  into  the  war  than 
in  the  six  months  following  it.  The  1.  W.  W.  were  comparatively 
quiet  during  that  period.  — Editors. 

PATRIOTISM  AND  THE  1.  W.  W. 

While  it  may  be  clear  that  the  I.  W.  W.  has  not  deliberately 
obstructed  the  war,  it  is  equally  evident  that  they  do  not  share 
any  great  enthusiasm  for  it.  Says  Carlton  H.  Parker  of  the  general 
attitude  of  labor: 

"A  reasonable  deduction  from  the  industrial  facts  would 
be  that  the  American  labor  class  is  not  participating  in  the 


37 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


kind  of  patriotic  fervor  that  is  in  vogue  among  the  upper 
middle  class.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  say  that  their  wage 
demands  occupy,  their  attention.  Coupled  with  this  ancient 
interest  is  a  set  of  traditional  and  complicating  forces  which 
determine  the  attitude  of  labor.  The  recital  of  the  war- 
profits  ih  steel,  in  copper,  in  foods,  in  medicines,  does  not 
fall  on  an  ordinarily  receptive  audience.  It  falls  on  the 
minds  of  a  labor  class  with  a  long-cherished  background  of 
-  suspicion." 

And  further.  Prof.  Parker  quotes  an  I.  W.  W.  on  the  l^ck 
of  enthusiasm  for  the  war— expressing  a  point  of  view  not  un- 
common in  the  Northwest: 

"You  ask  me  why  the  I.  W.  W.  is  not  patriotic  to  the 
United  States.  If  you  were  a  bum  without  a  blanket;  if 
you  had  left  your  wife  and  kids  when  you  went  West  fot  a 
job,  and  had  never  located  them  since;  if  your 'job  never 
kept  you  long  enough  in  a  place  to  qualify  you  to  vote ;  if 
you  slept  in  a  lousy,  sour  bunk-house,  and  ate  food  just  as 
rotten  as  they  could  give  you  and  get  by  with  it;  if  deputy 
sheriffs  shot  your  cooking  cans  full  of  holes  and  spilled 
your  grub  on  the  ground;  if  your  wages  were  lowered  on 
you  when  the  bosses  thought  they  had  you  down ;  if  there 
was  one  law  for  Ford,  Suhr,  and  Mooney  and  another  for 
Harry  Thaw ;  if  every  person  who  represented  law  and 
order  and  the  nation  beat  you  up,  railroaded  you  to  jail, 
and  the  good  Christian  people  cheered  and  told  them  to  go 
to  it,  how  in  hell  do  you  expect  a  man  to  be  patriotic?  This 
war  is  a  business  man's  war  and  we  don't  see  why  we 
should  go  out  and  get  shot  in  order  to  save  the  lovely  state 
of  affairs  that  we  now  enjoy."  ^ 

But  contrast  with  this  the  attitude  of  the  I.  W.  W.  long- 
shoremen in  the  East — a  well-paid,  decently  treated  group  of 
-  men,  at  least  on  the  Philadelphia  docks.    The  following  state- 
ment by  their  local  secretary  has  been  verified  by  personal  in- 
vestigation :  .  \ 

"The  members  of  the  Marine  Transport  Workers  (an 
T.  W.  W.  organization)  have  been  loading  and  unloading 
Trans-Atlantic  steamers  in  the  Port  of  Philadelphia  since' 
May,  1913.  There  are  about  3,000  men  doing  this  work 
night  and  day  and  there,  has  never  been  an  accident  since  we 
have  been  organized. 

"The  American  Line  and  the  Atlantic  Transport  Line 


38 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


work  is  done  by  non-union  labor,  with  the  exception  of  the 
powder  work  which  is  done  by  our  men.  These  lines  are 
the  only  lines  that  have  transported  troops  from  here  since 
the  war.  This  work  consists  of  genefal  cargo,  powder, 
munitions  of  all  kinds,  and  cattle.  Never  to  my  knowledg:e 
since  this  country  entered  the  war  has  this  organization 
obstructed  the  Government  in  any  way."  \ 

Members  of  this  union  are  working  now  on  practically  all 
the  eastern  docks  and  on  board  troop  and  munition  ships,  without 
the  slightest  question  as  to  their  loyalty.  In  their  hall  at  Phila- 
delphia they  have  an  honor  list  of  Liberty  Bond  buyers  with  162 
names  (March,  1918),  and  are  collecting  ^ata.  for  a  service  flag. 

— Editors. 

"As  an  organization  we  have  handled  ore  and  muni- 
tions. The  fact  is  that  every  pound  of  munitions  in  the 
Philadelphia  Navy  Yard  is  handled  by  members  of  this  or- 
ganization, and  munitions,  carried  out  of  New  York  Harbor 
are  carried  out  by  members  of  this  organization.  There  is 
coming  a  day  of  accounting  to  place  this  organization  in  its 
true  light  before  the  public." 

— Ge<orge  F.  Vanderveer,  general  counsel  for 
the  L  W.  W. — Statment  in  court,  Jan.,  1918. 

Further  light  is  thrown  on  the  attitude  of  the  L  W.  W.  to 
the  war^y  the  following  paragraphs  from  a  public  statement 
issued  by  the  Seattle  branches  of  the  organization : 

"There  are  employers,  great  and  small,  who  are  taking 
advantage  of  present  conditions  to  vent  their  animosity 
against  the  I.  W.  W.  and  other  organisations  of  labor,  and 
are  disguising  their  brutality  under  the  cloak  of  patriotism. 

"The  1.  W.  W.  is  a  labor  union.  It  has.no  hatred  for 
the  workers  of  any  nationality,  but  it  most  distinctly  is  not 
pro-German.  Thousands  of  1.  W.  W.  members  registered, 
were  drafted  and  are  now  in  the  training  camps ;  others 
proclaimed  themselves  to  be  conscientious  objectors  and  are 
paying  the  pekalty  for  having  taken  that  stand;  some  did 
not  register  at  all ;  this  is  the  record  of  practically  all  organ- 
izations, religious,  political  and  economic. 

"I.  W.  W.  speakers  and  the  I.  W.  W.  press  have  been 
^  careful  to  confine  their  efforts  entirely  to  the  work  of  edu- 
cation and  organization  along  industrial  lines,  and  any 
opinion  expressed  that  is  at  variance  with  that  pojicy  is  an 
individual  matter.  Reports  that  I.  W.  W.  papers  and  speak- 

39 


'1 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


ers  have  been  defaming  the  flag  or  advising  the  violent 
overthrow  of  the  government  are  untrue,  as  you  can  easily 
find  out  for  yourself  by  reading  the  papers  and  listening  to 
the  various  lectures.  Such  reports  are  purposely  spread  in 
order  to  create  a  condition  favorable  to  mob  violence." 

The  Charge  of  Pro-Germanism. 

After  a  considerable  press  campaign  to  identify  the  I.  W.  W. 
and  German  propaganda,  the  new^spapiers  carried  last  summer  a 
semi-official  denial  in  the  form  of  statements  from  the  Depart- 
ment of  Justice. 

The  Washington  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Times  sent 
the  follov^ing  despatch  on  July  16,  carried  on  Tuesday,  July  17, 
under  these  heads: 

DOUBT  TEUTONS  PAID.  AGITATORS  OF.  L  W.  W. 
Federal  Agents  Fail  'to  Verify  Rumor  of  German  Financing  of 

Western  Strikes. 

"Washington,  Juy  16. — Reports  that  the  activities  of  In- 
dustrial Workers  of  the  World  in  the  v^est  recently  had  been 
financed  by  German  gold  have  failed  of  substantiation  after  an 
exhaustive  investigation  by  agents  of  the  Department  of  Justice. 

"Officials  said  today  they  believed  that  nearly  all  the  German 
money  in  this  country  had  been  located,  and  that  virtually  none 
of  it  has  been  used  in  that  w^ay. 

"Reports  from  various  parts  of  the  v^est  today  told  of 
arrests  of  members  of  the  I.  W.  W.  under  the  President's  alien 
enemy  proclamation.  It  v^as  said,  however,  that  the  percentage 
of  German  sympathizers  found  in  the  organization  was  believed 
to  be  no  higher  than  that  in  many  other  organizations." 


40 


MISREPRESENTATION  OF  THE  1.  W.  W.  \ 


In  the  Press. 

"The  domination  of  the  press  of  this  country  over  the  form 
and  method  of  publicity  has  given  Americans  a  deep-seated  bias 
in  favor  of  a  vivid  and  dramatic  presentation  of  all  problems, 
economic  or  moral.  The  rather  gray  and  sodden  explanation  of 
any  labor  revolt  by  reference  to  the  copimonplace  and  miserable 
experiences  of  the  labor  group  v^ould  lack  this  indispensable 
vividness.  Just  as  the  French  enjoy  the  sordid  stories  of  the 
life  of  the  petty  thief  when  garnished  and  labeled  'Pictures  of  the 
Parisian  Apache/  so  the  casual  American  demands  v^hite  hoods 
and  mystery  for  the  Kentucky  night-riders  and  a  dread,  sabot- 
age-using underground  apparition  for  the  I.  W.  W.  An  impor- 
tant portion  of  the  1.  W.  W.  terrorism  can  he  traced  <firectly 
back  to  the  inarticulated  puhlic  demand  that  the  I.  W.  W.  news- 
story  produce  a  thrill."  — Carlton  FL  Parker. 

By  Exploiters. 

"Growing  out  of  this  newspaper  attitude  is  a  tendency  even 
more  serious  because  more  widespread— a  hot-headed  intoler- 
ance that  will  believe  any  accusation  of  the  I.  W.  W.,  however 
unsupported  by  facts ;  and  support  any  aggression,  however  un- 
justifiable or  lawless,  that  may  be  directed  against  them.  , 

''Because  of  this  tendency,  unscrupulous  employers  are  en- 
deavoring to  take  advantage  of  the  disrepute  of  the  I.  W.  W. 
in  order  to  further  their  own  ulterior  ends.  HanHy  a  strike 
occurs  in  which  the  cry  of  *L  W.  W.  influence'  is  not  inunediately 
raised.  The  street  car  strike  in  San  Francisco,  now  in  progress, 
was  ascribed  to  the  I.  W.  W^,  though  it  is  being  handled  by  a 
representative  of  the  Amalgamated  Association  of  Street  and 
Electric  Railway  Employes,  a  union  affiliated  with  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor.  The  strike  of  iron  workers  in  the  ship- 
yards, all  members  of  unions  affiliated  with  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor,  was  said  to  be  fomented  by  the  I.  W.  W.  The 
move  for  an  eight-hour  day  in  the  lumber  camp§  of  Washington, 
endorsed  by  no  less  a  person  than  Newton  D.  Baker,  Secretary  of 


41 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


War  '^^^  denounced  to  the  world  as  a  part  of  the  I.  W.  WJ  con- 
^jyl'acy  to  injure  the  government.  ... 

y  "li  is  most  disheartening  that  these  exploiters  can  resort  to 
/extreme  lawlessness  in  the  furtherance  of  their  ends  without 
evoking  a  protest  from  the  public.  Because  of  this  spirit  of 
acquiescence,  the  dread  initials  of  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the 
World  can  be  used  n,ot  only  to  injure  the  legitimate  labor  move- 
ment everywhere,  biat  also  as  a  red  herring  across  the  trail  of 
those  employers  who  do  not  hesitate  to  use  the  nation's  pligpht 
as  an  opportunity  to  strengthen  their  own  unjust  practices. 

— John  A.  Fitch. 

There  is  further  proof  of  these  deliberate  efforts  of  em- 
'ployers  to  identify  all  labor  with  the  1.  W.  W.  so  as  to  discredit 
it.    Robert  Bruere  says  of  the  situation  in  Arizona  :  ^ 

*The  mystery  began  to  clear  soon  aitor  the  President's 
Conimission  opened  its  conferences  in  Phoenix.  It  devel- 
oped, early  in  these  hearings  that  in^  the  State  of  Arizona 
all  labor  leaders,  all  strikes,  and  all  persons^  wl|o  sympatl»ae 
or  are  suspected  of  sympathizing  with  strikers  are  lumped 
under  the  general  designation  of  *I.  W.  W.'  or  *  Wobbly.' 
That  is  no  doubt  the  reason  why,  when  Secretary  Wilson, 
Chairman  of  the  President's  Commission,  stated  during  the 
hearings  in  Globe  that  he  himself  was  a  member  in  good 
standing  in  the  Coal  Miners'  Union,  the  witness  who  was 
testifying  interrupted  his  story  to  ask  whether  the  secre- 
tary or  other  members  of  the  Commission  belonged  to  the 
I.  W.  W. 

"This  fantastic  enlargement  of  the  meaning  of  Wob- 
bly we\  found  to  be  universal.  Very  few  people  had  any 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  tenets  or  tactics  of  the  I.  W.  W. 
The  three,  letters  had  come  to  stand  in  the  popular  mind  as 
a  symbol  of  something  bordering  on  black  magic.  They 
were  repeated  over  and  over  again  by  the  press  like  the 
tappings  of  an  Oriental  drum,  and  were^lways  accompanied 
with  suggestions  of  impending  violence.  It  was  iri  this  way 
that  it  became  possible  to  use  them  to  work  ordinarily 
rational  communities  up  into  a  state  of  unreasoning  frenzy, 
into  hysterical  mobs  resorting  to  violence  to  dispel  the 
fear  or  such  violence  as  happened,  in  Bisbee." 


42 


THE  INDICTMENTS  AGAINSlf  THE  1.  W.  W. 

113  Leaders  Under  Indictment  at  Chicago;  Some  Hundreds  of 
Others  Indicted  Elsewhere, 


Trial  by  the  Press.  / 

"We  find  that  in  a  majority  of  the  newspapers  of  the  country 
the  indicted  members  of  the  I.  W.  W.  have  already  been  tried  and 
found  guilty.  Despite  the  fact  that  we  do  not  yet  know  what 
evidence  the  government  has  to  present,  some  of  the  newspapers 
are  going  wild  over  the  fact  that  William  D.  Haywood  made  ar- 
rangements to  have  Pouget's  book,  Sabotage,  translated  into 
Finnish.  Sabotage  is  a  pernicious  doctrine,  but  preaching-  it  does 
not  constitute  seditious  conspiracy,  as  the  newspaper  writers 
very  well  kno\y.  Moreover,  we  have  known,  since  the  I.  W.  W. 
was  organized,  in  1904,  that  one  oi  its  doctrines  is  the  practice 
of  sabotage."  — John  A.  Fitch  in  the  ''Survey.'^ 

Trial  by  the  Government. 

"Repressive  dealing  with  manifestations  of  labor  unrest 
is  the  source  of  much  bitterness,  turns  radical  labor  leaders  into 
martyrs,  and  thus  increases  their  following,  and,  worst  of  all,  in 
the  minds  of  workers  tends  to  implicate  the  Government  as  a 
partisan  in  an  economic  conflict.  The  problem  is  a  delicate  and 
difficult  one."  — President's  Mediation  Commission. 

LAYING  WITH  DYNAMITE/' 

(Editorial  in  the  Pt^Mic/ Nov.  16,  1917.) 

"Professional  detectives  and  the  well-meaning  assistant  pros- 
ecutors of  the  Department  of  Justice  should  nof  be  given  a  free 
hand  in  handling  the  I.  W.  W.  situation.  There  is  evidence  that 
they  are  as  ignorant;  of  American  sociology  as  were  the  advisers 
of  Louis  XVI  of  French  sociology.  And  they  are  ^aided  and 
abetted  in  their  ignorance  by  an  equally  ignorant  press,  so  that 
nothing  but  approving  comment  follows  the  most  stupid  and 
dangerous  tactics. 

"The  situation  in  this  country  with  respect  to  unskilled  and 
unorganized  labor  is  full  of  dynamite.  Every  trsi^de  union  leader 
knows  it.    The  .President  knows  it.    It  is  the  dynamite  engen- 

43 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


bur  *  ^  existence  of  a  large  class  conscious  of  injustice, 
mng  with  resentment,  and  wholly  without  organization 
!-  'rough  which  to  express  itself.  The  I.  W.  W.  does  not  represent 
it  in  any  authorized  way.  But  it  comes  nearer  being  its  spokes- 
man than  any  other  organization.  Members  of  the  I.  W.  W.  or 
men  who  have  been  profoundly  influenced  by  their  propaganda 
may  be  found  in  every  unorganized  labor  force  in  the  country. 
The  I.  W.  W.  is  not  an  organization  so  much  as  it  is  a  spirit  and 
a  vocabulary.  And  because  no  strike  or  audible  protest  follows 
the  various  assaults  on  I.  W.  W.  leaders,  let  us^  not  be  too  sure 
that  their  influence  is  negligible,  that  the  Department's  policv 
and  that  of  the  mobs  that  get  encouragement  from  this  policy 
is  not  breeding  a  slow,  dangerous,  smoldering  resentment. 

"An  instant  retaliation  would  be  far  less  dangerous,  much 
easier  to  handle,  than  a  spirit  that  may  at  some  critical  juncture 
in  the  future  flare  out  in  a  strike  of  steel  workers  or  slaughter- 
house workers  or  miners  or  oil  refinei-s.  No  one  knows  about 
this.  Perhaps  the  Government  can  imprison  or  mobs  hbrsewhip 
every  laborer  in  the  country  who  sympathizes  with  the  I.  W.  W., 
and  our  unorganized,  unskilled,  exploited  wage  workers  will  take 
it  lying  down.  Perhaps  they  will  not.  But  the  situation  should 
not  be  handled  by  men  who  have  never  read,  let  alone  pondered, 
the  government  reports  that  show  that  hardly  more  than  half  of 
the  adult  male  wage  earners  in  the  United  States  earn  enough 
in  a  year  to  support  a  family  in  decency  and  comfort.  The  I.  W. 
W.  leaders  now  in  jail  know  those  reports  by  heart. 

"The  real  crime  of  Haywood  aind  most  of  the  rest  was  the 
conducting  of  an  aggressive  propaganda  and  strike  program  on 
behalf  of  laborers  who  are  interested  solely  in  obtaining  better 
conditions  of  life  and  labor.  But  that  feeling  has  been  manipu- 
lated and  organized  by  men  whose  economic  interests,  wHose 
right  to  exploit  their  fellows  without  let  or  hindrance,  have  been 
interfered  with,  and  properly,  by  1.  W./'W.  agitation.  In  so  far 
as  the  1.  W.  W.  stand  as  spokesmen  and  representatives  of  the 
most  exploited  class  of  American  labor,  they  must  be  handled  by 
men  who  are  something  more  than  outraged  patriots,  with  a 
patriotism  that  coincides  with  a  belief  in  tl^eir  right  to  exploit 
others.  No  one  knows  to  what  degree  they  do  so  stand,  and  least 
of  all  the  detectives  and  prosecutors  of  the  Department  of  Jus- 
tice. These  assume  too  readily  that  they  can  dispose  of  the 
whole  problem  by  putting  a  few  men  in  jail. 

"But  to  assault  the  I.  W.  W.  as  a  whole  is  to  assault  the  only 
Spokesmen  and  to  suppress  the  only  articulation  possessed  by  a 


44 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


class  of  wage  workers  on  which  several  of  our  most  vital  basic 
industries  are  utterly  dependent — a  class  numbering  many  mil- 
lions of  men.    .  . 

Governments  and  the  Labor  Problem. 

"Since  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  from  every  available  source 
open  to  me,  I  have  followed  the  struggles  of  governments  with 
labor.  It  is  a  story  as  momentous  for  the  future  as  the  war  itself. 
Whether  it  is  in  France,  Italy,  England  or  Australia,  the  most 
unmistakable  of  all  lessons  and  the  most  distinct  of  all  warnings 
is  this,  that  force  and  all  indiscriminate  punishment  of  bodies  of 
men  is  not  only  the  least  effective  but  by  far  the  most  dangerous 
procedure.  It  does  nothing  but  multiply  troubles.  In  no  country 
will  this  prove  truer  than  in  our  own. 

"I  lay  no  weight  in  this  on  any  merely  sentimental  or  phil- 
anthropic view.  It  is  solely  a  question  of  good  sense  and  prac- 
tical statesmanship."  — John  Graham  Brooks. 

Effect  of  Prosecution  on  Workers. 

Robert  Bruere  says  of  the  effect  of  the  policy  of  prosecution 
as  against  conciliation : 

'Tf ,  at  this  strategic  moment,  the  Government  could  bring 
itself  to  adopt  and  extend  the  statesmanlike  policy  of  its  own 
Forest  Service,  I  believe  that  the  strike  of  the  lumberjacks 
which  is  scheduled  for  the  coming  spring  might  be  averted.  I 
feel  very  strongly  about  this  matter,  because  I  believe  that  the 
policy  of  uncompromising  hostility  toward  the  1.  W.  W.  work- 
men which  .  .  .  is  being  pushed  by  the  United  States  De- 
partment of  Justice,  is  jeopardizing  the  success  of  our  aeroplane 
programme,  whose  immediate  execution  is  absolutely  essential 
for  the  successful  prosecution  of  our  war  on  the  French  front. 

"The  present  unimaginative  policy  of  the  departments  that 
are  dealing  with  the  matter  is  not  only  not  solving  the  problem 
of  spruce  and  ship  timber  production  but  is  encouraging  the 
reactionary  local  groups  of  loyalty  leaguers  and  the  like  to  resort 
to  practices  which  instead  of  promoting  industrial- peace  and  good 
will  are  breeding  a  spirit  of  bitterness  and  resentment  that  are 
seriously  aggravating  the  evils  of  an  already  bad  situation. 

"In  discussing  the  I.  W.  W.,  the  one  point  upon  which  all 
classes  of  men  in  the  Northwest  lumber  country  are  agreed 
is  that  the  membership  of  the  organization  is  rapidly  growing. 
Six  years  ago  the  I.  W.  W.  was  generally  considered,  even  by 
its  own  leaders,  as  principally  a  hobo  organization.   Within  the 


45 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


last  six  years,  and  especially  within  the  last  year,  the  quality  of  , 
its  membershijt  and  the  spirit  of  its  propaganda  have  improved 
both  in  dignity  and  power.  In  the  State  of  Washington,  Idaho, 
and  Montana,  it  is  by  almost  universal  testimony  difficult  to  draw 
a  sharp  line  of  distinction  between  the  members  of  the  so-called 
'craft  unions*  and  the  so  called  'revolutionary  industrial  unions'- 
of  the  I.  W.  W.,  except  by  the  cards  they  carry.  And  even  this 
distinction  is  disappearing.  A  surprisingly  large  number  of  men 
in  the  forests,  in  the  mills,  in  the  mines,  and  on  the  railroads 
carry  two  cards — one  testifying  to  their  membership  in  the  reg- 
ular A.  F.  of  L.  Union,  and  the  one  aligning  them  with  the  I. 
W.  W. 

"No  doubt  there  are  many  equally  valid  explanations  of  this 
remarkable  fact — remarkable  because  in  creed  and  philosophic 
doctrine  the  A.  F.  of  L.  and  the  I.  W.  W.  are  as  sharply  opposed 
as  the  'hardshelled'  Baptists  and  the  Congregational  Unitarians. 
But  the  outstanding  reasons  for  the  manifestly  growing  sym- 
pathy of  the  Northwest  with  the  men  in  the  rival  organizations 
is  the  very  general  sense  that  the  I.  W.  W.  has  not  had  a  square 
deal.  Equality  before  the  law  is,  of  all  our  American  Constitu- 
tional guarantees,  the  one  that  the  common  man  holds  most 
precious,  and  nothing  will  so  surely  solidify  otherwise  discordant 
groups  of  wage  workers  as  the  infringement  of  this  guarantee 
by  the  constituted  authorities."  — Robert  Bruere. 

"From  the  point  of  view  of  public  policy,  the  important  fact 
to  remember  is  that  after  months  of  attack  the  I.  W.  W.  as  an 
organization  is  stronger  today  than  at  any  previous  time  in  its 
history.  It  is  stronger  because  the  so-called  conservative  trade 
unionists  are  giving  it  both  moral  and  financial  support.  And 
the  sympathy  of  the  conservative  trade  unionists  for  the  men 
in  the  'outlaw'  organization  is  growing  because  of  a  growing 
distrust  of  the  fairness  of  Government  officials  in  administering 
justice.'*  —Robert  Bruere  (March  23,  1918). 

»  ANALYSIS  OF  THE  INDICTMENT. 

An  analysis  of  the  indictment  returned  against  166  /.  W.  W. 
members  and  sympathizers  by  the  Federal  Grand  Jury  at  Chicago,^ 
III,  Sept.  28,  1917.    {Number  of  defendants  reduced  finally  to  1 1 3.) 
By  Walter  Nelles,  Attorney,  New  York. 

The  indictment  is  in  jfive  counts.  Each  count  says  that  the 
166  defendants  committed  the  crime  of  conspiring  to  do  some- 
thing forbidden  by  law.  "Conspiracy"  is  the  name  of  the  crime. 
It  consists  of  an  intention  to  do  something  wrong,  plus  an  agree- 


46 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


ment  with  others  for  carrying  out  the  intention.  It  is  a  peculiar 
crime  for  this  reason — that  whether  the  wrong  intended  was 
actually  done  or  not  does  not  matter.  People  not  lawyers  some- 
times find  this  hard  to  understand,  and  even  lawyers  often  get 
muddled  over  distinctions  between  intention  and  result. 

The  five  sets  of  wrongs  which  the  indictment  says  the  166 
defendants  agreed  together  to  bring  about  are  these: 

First  Coimt.  Forcible  hindrance  of  the  execution  of  a 
long  list  of  federal  laws ; 

Second  Count.  Injury  to  unknown  persons  in  the  right 
and  privilege  of  furnishing  to  the  United  States  articles, 
materials,  and  transportation; 

Third  Count.  Attempts  to  induce  10,000  draft  eligibles 
not  to  register,  and  to  induce  5,000  drafted  men  to  desert; 

Fourth  Count.  Insubordination,  disloyalty,  and  refusal 
of  duty  in  the  military  and  naval  forces,  and  obstruction 
of  recruiting  and  enlistment; 

Fifth  Count.  2,020  crimes  of  depositing  propaganda  in 
the  mails  in  order  to  execute  a  "scheme  and  artifice  to  de- 
fraud employers  of  labor"  by  sabotage. 

The  first  count  is  the  most  interesting  and  probably  the  most 
important.  It  presents  a  theory  of  guilt  based  upon  the  alleged 
essential  depravity  of  the  I.  W.  W.  The  argument  advanced 
is,  in  eflFect,  that  this  depravity  was  so  complete,  that  any  denial 
of  a  conspiracy  to  hinder  the  execution  of  laws  should  receive 
no  consideration.  The  list  of  laws  they  are  accused  of  conspiring 
to  impede  includes  these :  The  declaration  of  war,  the  regula- 
tions about  alien  enemies,  seven  military  and  naval  appropria- 
tion acts,  the  draft  and  espionage  acts,  and  the  penal  laws  making 
punishable  rebellion,  insurrection,  corrupting  witnesses,  rescuing 
fugitives  from  justice,  and  various  other  crimes. 

The  Theory  of  Guilt  in  the  First  Count. 

The  essence  of  the  crime  of  conspiracy  is  the  agreement  to 
accomplish  certain  criminal  ends.  The  fundamental  and  primary 
necessity,  therefore,  in  this  case,  is  to  prove  that  such  an  agree- 
ment was  made.    Apparently  this  is  to  be  done  as  follows : 

The  indictment  says  that  the  defendants,  being  members  of 
the  I.  W.  W.,  "with  the  special  purpose  of  preventing,  hindering 
and  delaying  the  execution*'  of  the  enumerated  laws, 

"severally  have  been  actively  engaged  in  managing  and 
conducting  the  aifairs  of  said  association,  propagating  its 
principles  by  written,  printed,  and  verbal  exhortations,  and 
accomplishing  its  objects,  which  are  now  here  explained, 

47 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


and  thereby  and  in  so  domgf.  .  .  .  have  engaged  in 
.  .  .  the  unlawful  and  felonious  conspiracy  aforesaid." 
The  natural  supposition  that  the  claim  that  the  defendants 
agreed  together  would  be  based  upon  the  fact  of  their  common 
membership  in  the  1.  W.  W.  is'  thus  incorrect.  For  the  defend- 
ants became  members  before  the  war,  when  a  "special  purpose" 
to  impede  the  enumerated  laws  (principally  war  laws)  could  not 
be  charged  against  their  organization.  So  the  theory  is  this 
instead, — that  each  defendant  went  about  his  work  for  the  organ- 
ization with  the  "special  purpose"  of  impeding  the  enumerated 
laws ;  that  in  so  doing  he  by  implication,  at  least,  proposed  to 
each  of  the  other  defendants  that  this  "special  purpose"  should 
become  one  of  their  joint  purposes,  and  at  the  same  time  agreed 
to  a  similar  implied  proposal  from  each  of  the  other  defendants. 
Thus  we  should  have  the  requisite  meeting  of  the  minds  of  all 
for  effecting  the  special  purpose  in  the  mind  of  each. 

Obviously,  the  crucial  thing. to  show  is  that  the  special 
purpose  was  in  the  mind  of  each. 

The  prosecution  does  not  undertake  the  impossible  task  of 
showing  that  a  special  purpose  of  impeding  some  twenty  laws 
(some  of  which,  indeed,  were  not  passed  until  after  the  indicated 
commencement  of  the  conspiracy)  was  consciously  entertained 
by  each  of  166  persons.  It  undertakes  instead  to  trace  the 
special  purpose  into  the  defendants'  minds  in  this  way,  through 
an  equivalent :  it  says  that  the  defendants  were  working  to 
abolish  capitalism,^  by  unlawful  means,^  applied  chiefly  in 
strikes,^  with  disregard  of  legal  rights,*  and  with  the  necessary 

^"Said  organization  .  .  .  has  been  one  for  supposedly  advancing 
the  interests  of  laborers  as  a  class  .  .  .  and  giving  them  complete 
control  and  ownership  of  all  property,  and  of  the  means  of  producing 
and  distributing  property,  through  the  abolition  of  all  other  classes  of 
society;" 

^"said  abolition  to  be  accomplished  not  by  political  action  or  with 
any  regard  for  right  or  wrong,  .  .  .  but  by  the  continual  and  per- 
sistent use  and  employment  of  unlawful,  tortitious  and  forcible  mea-ns 
and  methods,  involving  threats,  assaults,  injuries,  intimidations  and 
murders  upon  the  persons,  and  the  injury  and  destruction  ...  of 
the  property  of  such  other  classes,  the  forcible  resistance  to  the  execu- 
tion of  all  laws,  and  finally  the  forcible  revolutionary  overthrow  of  all 
existing  governmental  authority  in  the  United  States 

""use  of  which  said  first-mentioned  means  and  methods  was  prin- 
cipally to  accompany  local  strikes,  industrial  strikes,  and  general  strikes 
of  such  laborers," 

*"and  use  of  all  of  which  said  means  and  methods  was  to  be  made  in 
reckless  and  utter  disregard  of  the  rights  of  all  persons  not  members 
of  said  organization,  and  especially  of  the  right  of  the  United  States  to 
execute  its  above-enumerated  laws," 


48 


The  Truth  About  the  L  W.  W. 


result  of  impeding  the  enumerated  laws.^  Since  people  are  pre- 
sumed to  intend  the  natural  consequences  of  their  acts,  it  is  in- 
tended thus  to  give  color  to  the  charge  that  the  defendants,  what- 
ever their  actual  mental  obliviousness,  must  stand  as  if  they  in- 
tended to  impede  the  enumerated  laws. 

To  make  good  its  case  on  this  theory  the  prosecution  will 
have  to  dispose  of  a  difficulty.  The  indictment  says  that  the 
defendants  had  it  in  mind  to  promote  the  abolition  of  capitalism 
by  ''unlawful  means,"  involving  assaults,  murders,  etc.,  and 
destruction  of  property.  It  does  not  say,  however,  that  these 
unlawful  means  were  specific,  involving  particular  violent  acts 
on  definite  occasions  or  under  given  circumstances.  On  the 
contrary,  the  inference  of  intention  to  do  violent  acts  which 
would  necessarily  tend  to  impede  .the  enumerated  laws  is  to  be 
drawn,  not  from  any  definite  decision  to  do  such  acts,  but  from 
the  general  theory  of  conduct  attributed  to  the  1.  W.  W. 

The  indictment  says  that  that  theory  excludes  resort  to 
"political  action,"  i.  e.,  direct  appeal  to  voters  and  legislators 
for  changes  in  law.  This  may  be  assumed  to  be  true.  It  says 
also  that  that  theory  involves  indifference  to  legality.  ^  To  a 
Hmited  extent  this  may  be  assumed  to  be  capable  of  proof,  in  that 
the  illegality  of  an  act  would  not  of  itself  raise  a  moral  qualm 
-or  scruple  against  it  in  the  I.  W.  W.  mind.  But  it  would  be 
absurd  to  assume  that  it  can  be  proved  that  they  carry  disregard 
of  law  to  the  point  of  disregard  of  the  practical  expediency  of 
keeping  within  it.  Some  of  them  may  believe,  for  example,  that 
the  more  strikes  we  have,  the  nearer  we  shall  get  to  a  millenium 
—that  strikes  as  strikes  are  excellent,  regardless  of  just  grounds. 
But  they  probably  could  not  mstigate  a  groundless  strike,  and 
they  pretty  surely  would  not,  if  they  could.  A  mine  where 
owners  refuse  to  install  bulkhead  passages  after  the  suffocation 
of  a  few  hundred  men  for  want  of  them  is  good  soil  for  an 
I.  W.  W.  strike— but  the  strike  will  not  be  for  expropriation  of 
the  owners ;  it  will  be  for  passages  in  bulkheads.  Some  of  them 
may  have  no  scruple  against  destroying  railway  track  to  prevent 
the  introduction  of  strike-breakers.  But  they  will  not  do  it  if 
no  strike-breakers  appear,  or  if  they  can  keep  them  away  by 

'"said  defendants  well  knowing  .  .  .  that  the  necessary  effect  of 
their  so  doing  would  be  .  .  .  to  hinder  and  delay  and  in  part  to  pre- 
vent the  execution  of  said  laws  above  enumerated,  through  interference 
with  the  production  and  manufacture  of  divers  articles,  to  wit,  muni- 
tions, ships,  fuel,"  etc.,  "and  through  interference  with  and  prevention 
of  the  transportation  of  said  articles  and  of  said  military  and  naval 
forces." 


49 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


peaceful  picketing;  and  there  would  be  no  inherent  likelihood 
of  their  doing  it  in  any  case.  They  might  go  on  for  generations 
voicing  the  most  abhorrent  theories  which  Assistant  Attorneys 
General  can  possibly  attribute  to  them  without  either  commit- 
ting or  resolving  to  commit  a  single  violent  act.  The  weakness 
of  the  prosecution's  theory  of  guilt  lies  in  its  insistence  upon 
a  contrary  assumption. 

Metaphysically,  perhaps,  it  may  be  said  that  violent  theories 
do  result  in  violent  acts.  People  who  feel  personal  hate  towards 
the  1.  W.  W.  may  resent  as  a  silly  quibble  a  lawyer's  scruple 
against  establishing  as  a  principle  of  criminal  law  that  such 
theories  may  be  presumed  to  have""  such  results.  Such  a  pre- 
sumption, however,  the  government's  theory  involves ;  otherwise 
there  would  be  no  basis  for  the  corollary  that  defendants,  if  they 
entertain  a  violent  theory,  may  be  presumed  to  intend  conse- 
quences which  would  incidentally  follow  if  the  theory  should  in 
fact  blossom  into  action!  It  seems  a  longer  step  to  take  than 
the  importance  of  keeping  anyone  in  jail  would  justify. 

The  Tone  of  the  Indictment. 

The  object  of  an  indictment  is  to  tell  the  accused  what  he  is 
charged  with.  Colorlessness  of  language  is  for  once  a  positive 
literary  ideal.  Eloquence  (except  the  sort  latent  in  any  bare 
chronicle  of  bare  facts)  is  to  be  deprecated. 

In  this  respect  this  indictment  is  exceptional.  One  notes, 
for  example,  the  elevation  of  the  specific  number  of  crimes  the 
defendants  are  charged  with  intending,  to  the  grand  total  of 
17,022 ;  the  sinister  iteration  in  the  introduction  to  each  count 
of  "conspired  together,  and  with  one  Frank  H.  Little,  now  de- 
ceased;"^ the  parenthetical,  and  wholly  redundant,  lists  of  phrases 
from  the  I.  W.  W.  vocabulary  calculated  to  break  the  compla- 
cency of  persons  who  have  been  successful  in  accumulating  a 
little  property  into  a  climax  of  antipathy.^    One  notes  also  such 

^Little  was  the  organizer  lynched  at  Butte  in  the  summer  of  1917. 
'See  especially  the  following  paraphrased  summary  from  the  in- 
dictment: 

The  defendants  are  members  of  the  I.  W.  W.  and  "among  those 
known  in  said  organization  as  'militant  members  of  the  working-class' 
and  'rebels/  "  Their  organization  is  "one  for  supposedly  advancing  the 
interests  of  laborers  as  a  class  (by  members  of  said  organization  called 
'the  workers'  and  'the  proletariat'),  and  giving  them  complete  control 
and  ownership  of  all  property,  and  of  the  means  of  producing  and  dis- 
tributing property,  through  the  abolition  of  all  other  classes  of  society 
(by  the  members  of  said  organization  designated  as  'capitalists,'  'the 
capitalistic  class,'  'the  master  class,'  'the  ruling  class,'  'exploiters  of  the 
workers,'  'bourgeois,'  and  'parasites')."   The  abolition  of  classes  is  to  be 


50 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


puerile  phrases  as  "without  any  regard  for  right  or  wrong"  when 
the  question  is  of  illegality;  such  exaggerations  as  the  accusa- 
tion that  the  defendants'  method  of  class"  obliteration  includes 
"forcible  resistance  to  the  execution  of  all  laws" — including,  one 
wonders,  the  Federal  Income  Tax  Law,  for  example  ?  Above  all 
one  notes  insistent  charges  and  insinuations  of  want  of  patriot- 
ism.^ Of  course  it  is  pretty  sure  to  appear  in  the  case  that  many 
of  the  defendants  regard  the  war  as  a  capitalistic  enterprise  de- 
signed to  gain  advantage  in  the  industrial  struggle,  and  con- 
scription as  utter  outrage.  Whatever  inferences,  however,  may 
finally  be  made  as  to  the  defendants'  patriotism  must  rest  on 
evidence  as  to  what  they  intended  to  do — and  should  be  made  by 
philosophers  rather  than  by  jurymen.  It  is  not  for  want  of 
patriotism  that  they  are  on  trial.  Inferences  as  to  their  patriot- 
ism should  have  no  weight  in  determining  whether  they  are 
really  guilty  of  conspiring  to  do  things  which  would  necessarily 
carry  the  results  they  are  said  to  have  intended.  The  aspersions 
upon  their  patriotism  are  irrelevant  to  the  indictment.  They  can 
have  no  purpose  there  except  to  excite  the  passion  and  prejudice 
of  such  organs  of  publicity  as  review  the  indictment  in  advance 
of  the  trial. 

The  Overt  Acts. 

If  conspirators  repent  before  anyone  has  done  anything  to- 
wards Accomplishing  tlieir  forbidden  object,  their  conspiracy  is 
not  punishable.  Therefore  a  conspiracy  indictment  must  allege 
the  doing  of  "overt  acts"  to  effect  the  object  of  the  conspiracy. 

This  indictment  alleges  twenty  such  acts  for  accomplishing 
the  first  four  conspiracies.  Of  course  these  acts  throw  no  light 
on  whether  the  conspiracies  are  real  or  imaginary.  Technically 
no  proof  can  be  given  of  any  of  them  until  after  there  is  proof 

effected  through  means  involving  not  only  intimidation,  murder,  etc.,  but 
also  injury  and  destruction  of  property  of  other  classes  "(known  in  said 
organization  as  'sabotage,*  *direct  action/  'striking  on  the  job,*  'wearing 
the  wooden  shoes,*  'working  the  sab-cat,*  and  'slowing-down  tactics.*)** 

^That  the .  defendants'  methods  "involved  .  .  .  finally"  forcible 
revolution;  that  they  had  an  "especial  and  particular  design"  of  seizing 
the  opportunity  presented  by  the  war  for  "putting  said  unlaw^ful,  torti- 
tious  and  forcible  methods  of  said  organization  into  practice"  (want  of 
space  prevents  analysis  of  the  peculiar  perversions  of  language  and 
reason  which  this  accusation  involves)  ;  that  they  intended  to  impede  the 
Conscription  Act  by  failing  to  register,  "notwithstanding  the  require- 
ments of  said  laws  .  .  .  and  notwithstanding  the  patriotic  duty  of 
such  members  ...  so  to  register  and  submit  to  registration  and 
draft  and  so  to  enlist  .  .  .  and  notwithstanding  the  cowardice  in- 
volved in  such  failure  and  refusal." 


51 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  V/.  W. 


that  the  defendants  really  conspired  as  charged.  The  acts  do, 
however,  throw  interesting  light  upon  what  some  of  the  de- 
fendants have  been  thinking  and  doing. 

The  first  nine  overt  acts  are  publications  of  propaganda. 
The  following  is  a  summary  of  the  other  eleven: 

10.  Three  days  after  the  enactment  of  the  Conscrip- 
tion Act  a  local  secretary  wrote  Haywood  that  the  Augusta, 
Kansas,  branch  had  passed  a  resolution  to  "resist  conscrip- 
tion." 

11.  An  organizer  in  Minnesota  distributed  a  circular 
calling  upon  workers  in  the  iron  industry  to  prepare  to 
strike  for  the  release  of  fellow  workers  imprisoned  for  not 
registering  for  conscription. 

12,  14.  An  organizer  on  the  Pacific  coast  urged  a  gen- 
eral strike  unless  men  arrested  for  not  registering  were 
released  by  a  given  time,  and  wrote  that  he  felt  sure  that 
the  "German  people"  in  Seattle  were  "in  sympathy  with  our 
cause." 

13,  15,  16.  Haywood  directed  the  movements  of  organ- 
izers in  Minnesota  and  recommended  the  distribution  of  lit- 
erature. 

17.  On  July  6  Haywood  telegraphed  good  wishes  to 
the  Arizona  strikers.  On  July  13  he  protested  to  President 
Wilson  against  the  Arizona  deportations.  On  July  26  he 
telegraphed  encouragement  to  Arizona  strikers,  mention- 
ing strikes  brewing  in  Michigan  and  Minnesota.  On  July 
27  he  telegraphed  President  Wilson  that  Michigan  and 
Minnesota  strikes  were  threatened  unless  the  miners  at  Co- 
lumbus were  returned  to  their  homes  at  Bisbee ;  on  July  30 
he  added  that  the  harvest  workers  in  the  Dakotas  would 
also  strike  for  the  same  cause.  Between  July  31  and  August 
3  he  telegraphed  several  organizers  to  go  to  Bessemer, 
Michigan. 

18,  19.  Haywood  was  appealed  to  by  local  organizers 
for  funds  for  the  Bisbee  deportees  and  for  men  arrested 
in  Michigan :  $3,000  was  apparently  sent  to  Salt  Lake  City 
for  use  in  Arizona. 

20.  On  August  7  a  Portland,  Oregon,  organizer  tele- 
graphed Haywood  that  in  view  of  the  Little  lynching  and 
the  Arizona  deportations,  "A  nation  wide  general  strike  is 
the  only  weapon  left  in  labor's  hands.  .  .  .  On  with  the 
national  general  strike.  Wire  acknowledgment." 


52 


The  Truth  About  the  I.  W.  W. 


As  has  been  said,  the  crime  of  Conspiracy  is  anomalous  in 
that  the  results  of  conspiracies  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  con- 
spirators' criminaHty.  There  is  therefore  no  presumption  that 
the  statement  of  "overt  acts"  is  a  complete  account  of  the  activ- 
ities which  might  be  attributed  to  the  alleged  conspirators  dur- 
ing the  war.  So  far  as  it  goes,  it  shows  that  individual  de- 
fendants here  and  there  suggested  strikes  against  conscription 
when  the  act  was  passed,  but  not  any  serious  or  general  under- 
taking to  instigate  such  strikes.  Individual  defendants  were  un- 
questionably active  in  agitating  for  strikes  of  protest  against 
the  Bisbee  deportations.  What  may  be  a  crucial  question  at  the 
trial  is  whether  an  agreement  to  organize  that  kind  of  protest 
against  mob  rule,  if  there  should  be  evidence  of  one,  can  be 
construed  as  a  criminal  conspiracy  to  impede  the  enumerated 
laws  or  injure  employers  of  labor  in  the  right  to  supply  the 
government. 


53 


FACTS  ABOUT  THE  DEFENDANTS. 

Note:  Since  these  facts  were  secured,  the  indictments  against 
some  have  been  dismissed;  others  have  not  been  apprehended.  The 
total  number  on  trial  at  Chicago  w  113. 

Of  the  166  indicted  at  Chicago  (165  men,  1  woman),  the  fol- 
lowing facts  obtained  regarding  about  100  of  them  are  significant: 

1.  Membership  in  the  I.  W.  W.  In  the  first  place,  11  of 
them  are  not  now,  and  never  have  been  members  of  the  1.  W.  W. 
Two  more  are  not  now  members  and  have  not  been  during  the 
war,  nor  have  they  taken  any  part  in  I.  W.  W.  affairs  during  the 
war.  Four  more  are  not  members  now,  having  been  expelled  for 
"conduct  unbecoming  a  member  of  the  I.  W.  W." — which  it  ap- 
pears in  one  case  was  "going  south  with  the  money" ! 

2.  Politically,  2  are  Republicans,  1  a  Democrat,  4  Non-parti- 
san Leaguers,  17  are  members  of  the  Socialist  Party,  18  more 
are  former  members,  2  only  are  avowed  anarchists  (using  the 
term  to  describe  their  conviction  that  all  fgrms  of  government 
are  wrong),  58  do  not  vote  at  all. 

3.  Educatian  and  professional  training.  Four  are  college 
graduates,  1  a  college  student,  1  a  civil  engineer,  1  a  railroad 
engmeer,  2  stenographers  (1  court),  3  poets  and  1  cartoonist. 


4.    Occupations : 

Agricultural   13 

1.  W.  W.  organizers  and  officials   14 

Journalism   9 

Skilled  trades   38 

Unskilled  migratory  workers   18 


92 

5.   Domestic  state: 

Married,  childless   21 

Married,  with  children  26 

Single   62 


109 


54 


Where  they  hail  from: 

Pacific  Coast   19 

Coast  to  Mississippi  River   42 

Mississippi  River  to  Alleghanies   36 

Alleghanies  to  Atlantic  Coast   8 


105 

Ages: 

Under  31   *20 

31  to  50   75 

Over  50    4 


99 

(*18  of  whom  registered  under  the  selective 
service  act;  \  other  wcls  under  21 ;  1  only 
did  not  register.) 


Nationality : 

Born  in  U.  S   50 

Born  in  allied  countries   43 

Born  in  neutral  countries   11 

Born  in  enemy  countries   *6 


110 

(*1  Hungarian^  4  Germans,  held  as  alien  ene- 
mies; 1  Bulgarian.) 

In  more  detail: 

3  Mexicans,  4  Canadians,  9  Englishmen,  3  Irishmen,  3 
Scotchmen,  1  Greek,  3  Italians,  5  Scandinavians,  3  Poles, 

4  Russians,  2  Finns,  1  Belgian,  1  Portuguese,  1  Slav,  2 
Slovaks,  1  Spaniard,  1  Lithuanian,  1  Australian,  1 
Frenchman,  1  Bohemian.  (Total,  50.)  16  of  these  are 
citizens  either  by  naturalization  or  declaration  of  intent. 

Other  interesting  facts: 

One  of  the  indicted  men  was  dead  at  the  time  of  the  in- 
dictment ;  two  were  in  Russia,  one  of  whom  is  noAV  con- 
nected with  the  Bolshevik  government.  Two  are  ardent 
prohibition  workers ;  two  are  Roman  Catholics ;  five 
were  formerly  in  the  U.  S.  Army  or  Navy;  one  is  a 
Negro,  and  one  an  American  Indian. 


55 


The  President's  Mediation  Commission  said:   Jan.  9,  1918. 

"Membership  in  the  I.  W.  W.  by  no  means  implies 
belief  in  or  understanding  of  its  philosophy.  To  the  ma- 
jority of  the  members  it  is  a  bond  of  groping  fellowship. 
According  to  the  estimates  of  conservative  students  of  the 
phenomenon  a  very  small  percentage  of  the  I.  W.  W.  are 
really  understanding  followers  of  subversive  doctrine.  The 
I.  W.  W.  is  seeking  results  by  dramatizing  evils  and  by 
romantic  promises  of  relief.'^ 


LABOR'S  PLAN 
FOR  A  SCIENTIFIC  INDUSTRIAL  SOCIETY  BASED 
ON  PRODUCTION   FOR    USE    INSTEAD  OF  PROFIT 


I.  W.  W.  Industrial  Union  Chart 


The  Industries  Charted  for  Scientific  Management  and 
and  Control  by  the  Army  of  Production. 

This  arrangement  will  insure  orderly  controlled  produc- 
tion under  competent  technological  direction  backed  up  by 
the  disciplined  solidarity  of  the  emancipated  working  class. 

ECONOMIC  SECURITY  AND  ABUNDANCE  FOR  ALL.  NO 
MORE  DEPRESSIONS.  NO  MORE  UNEMPLOYMENT,  HUN- 
GER   OR    EXPLOITATION.    INDUSTRIAL  DEMOCRACY! 


2 


Analysis  of  the  Arrangement 
of  Industries. 

The  main  object  of  this  explanation  to  the  One  Big  Union 
chart  is  to  show  how  industries  are  grouped  together  in  a 
scientific  order. 

Production  begins  with  the  exploitation  of  the  natural 
resources  of  the  earth.  Labor  is  applied  to  extract  the  material 
that  nature  has  stored  up  or  generated.  Production  con- 
tinues with  the  transportation  of  these  products,  mostly  raw 
material,  or  fuel-matter,  to  the  centers  of  manufacture  and 
commerce.  The  construction  of  places  of  shelter  for  a  man 
and  things,  the  building  of  agencies  of  communication,  are 
functions  of  another  industrial  branch  of  the  system.  We 
observe,  finally,  how  the  care-taking,  the  education,  the  pro- 
viding for  public  convenience,  fall  to  the  functions  of  another 
department  in  the  interdependent  process  of  industrial  life. 

In  presenting  this  plan  of  organization  of  industries,  as  it 
exists  today,  we  have  in  mind  only  the  object  before  explained. 
The  workers,  forced  by  capitalist  ownership  of  the  means  of 
production  to  do  service  in  all  these  industries,  must  or- 
ganize themselves  in  their  proper  places  in  the  industries  in 
which  they  are  engaged.  Every  worker  who  studies  this  chart 
will  find  where  he  will  fit  in  when  the  industries  are  organ- 
ized for  the  control  of  the  workers  through  industrial  organ- 
ization. 

Of  course,  it  is  the  ultimate  purpose  of  this  arrange- 
ment that  every  worker  shall  have  equal  rights,  and  equal 
duties  also,  with  all  others  in  the  management  of  the  industry 
in  which  he  or  she  serves  in  the  process  of  production. 

But  the  other  purpose,  equally  important,  is  to  organize 
the  workers  in  such  a  way  that  all  the  members  of  the  organ- 
ization in  any  one  industry,  or  in  all  industries  if  necessary, 
cease  work  whenever  a  strike  or  lockout  is  on  in  any  depart- 
ment thereof,  thus  making  the  injury  to  one  the  injury  to  all. 

Of  course,  this  can  only  be  accomplished  when  the  work- 
ers organize  on  industrial  lines.  That  is  to  say,  the  workers 
of  any  one  plant  or  industry  must  be  members  of  one  and 
the  same  organization — no  cuaft  division  lines.  The  cap- 
italist institutions  are  today  organized  on  exactly  the  same 
lines.  The  industries  as  they  are  grouped  today,  dovetailing 


3 


into  each  other,  furnish  to  the  workers  the  basis  for  the 
construction  of  their  organization  for  the  struggles  of  today 
for  better  living  conditions,  and  for  the  supervision  and  the 
management  of  industry  by  workers  and  technicians. 

Distribution  of  Products  is  Part  of  Production 

All  natural  resources  of  the  soil,  mines  and  water  receive 
their  first  value  when  labor  is  applied  to  turn  the  products 
into  useful  things. 

But  all  of  these  products  have  more  social  value  when  they 
are  transported  to  places  of  manufacture  and  commerce, 
where  they  are  transformed  and  converted  into  commodities 
for  exchange. 

The  life  of  human  beings  will  not  consist  of  common 
drudgery  alone  when  all  the  good  things  created  are  enjoyed 
by  the  workers. 

For  all  purposes,  present  and  the  future,  the  functions 
of  the  public  service  institutions  have  to  be  defined,  and 
people  engaged  in  their  maintenance  must  be  given  a  place 
in  the  industrial  organization;  the  same  as  those  who  take 
care  of  the  sick  and  disabled.  Those  who  render  other  social 
and  public  service  should  know  they  are  engaged  in  useful 
occupation,  although  most  of  the  institutions  in  which  they 
serve  today  are  prostituted  for  the  protection  of  capitalist 
interests. 

For  all  functions  combined,  the  industries  are  arranged 
on  the  general  plan  presented  on  the  chart,  as  follows: 

1.  The  Department  of  Agriculture  and  Fisheries,  100. 

2.  The  Department  of  Mining  and  Minerals,  200. 

3.  The  Department  of  General  Construction,  300. 

4.  The  Department  of  Manufacture  and  General  Produc- 
tion, 400. 

5.  The  Department  of  Transportation  and  Communica- 
tion, 500. 

6.  The  Department  of  Public  Service,  600. 

The  numbers  following  the  names  of  the  departments 
are  the  department  numbers.  All  unions  within  a  department 
are  given  numbers  which  contain  the  first  figure  of  the  de- 
partment number.  For  instance,  all  unions  in  department  200, 
are  numbered  210,  220  and  so  on.  By  observing  the  "hundred" 


4 


to  which  an  industrial  union  belongs,  you  may  immediately 
ascertain  its  department. 

The  departments  again  have  their  subdivisions.  As  it  is 
proposed  that  the  workers  organize  in  accordance  with  the 
industries  in  which  they  are  engaged  in  service,  it  is  essential 
that  a  general  term  be  applied.  This  will  make  it  easier  to  un- 
derstand that  each  of  these  industrial  subdivisions  constitutes 
for  itself  a  sub-organization  of  workers,  in  which  they  will 
be  able  to  govern  affairs  that  appertain  to  that  industry  alone. 

Each  of  these  sub-divisions  would  comprise  the  workers 
organized  in  an  Industrial  Union,  which,  however  would  not 
be  separated  and  distinct  from  all  others,  as  the  term  "divi- 
sion" would  imply. 

It  is  impossible,  at  this  stage,  to  eliminate  entirely  the 
terms  now  used  to  designate  certain  functions  that  sets  of 
workers  perform  in  each  industry.  But  it  should  be  distinctly 
understood  that  this  is  not  to  imply  that  these  craft-groups 
in  industries  will  organize,  as  has  been  the  case  heretofore,  in 
separate  craft-unions,  or  according  to  the  tools  that  each  set 
of  workers  use.  That  would  mean  dividing-up  under  another 
name.  A  worker  in  an  industry  will  be  assigned  to  the  organ- 
ization representing  the  products  of  that  industry.  Each  sub- 
branch  of  the  general  industrial  union  is  modeled  accordingly. 

When  the  workers  engaged  in  a  particular  industrial  pro- 
duction organize  industrially,  all  are  subject  to  the  same  rules 
governing  the  affairs  of  each  industry.  But  certain  funda- 
mental rules  and  principles  governing  all  component  parts  of 
the  "one  big  union  of  workers"  cannot  be  infringed  upon  by 
any  of  its  component  parts  without  doing  injury  to  the  whole 
organic  body. 

Still  another  point  to  be  made  clear:  The  process  of  pro- 
duction does  not  cease  until  the  finished  product  reaches  the 
consumer.  All  workers  engaged  in  the  process  of  distribution 
are  members  of  the  same  industrial  union,  or  Department  Or- 
ganization in  which  the  makers  of  the  commodity  are  or- 
ganized. 

Of  course,  the  railroad  land  water-transportation  workers 
will  be  in  the  Transportation  Department,  although  it  might 
be  said  that  they  are  engaged  in  the  process  of  distribution. 
But  here  is  the  difference.  They  only  transport  goods  to  other 
localities  or  countries,  and  the  real  distribution  process  for  use 
and  consumption  takes  place  after  finished  commodities  have 
reached  the  merchant. 


5 


For  instance:  A  salesman  oi  clerk  in  a  shoe  store  would 
be  a  member  of  the  organization,  or  a  branch  thereof,  in 
which  are  organized  all  workers  engaged  in  the  shoe  industry. 
A  teamster  delivering  meats,  or  other  goods  from  a  grocery, 
would  be  in  the  organization  in  which  all  the  foodstuff  workers 
of  that  particular  branch  are  organized.  But  a  truck  driver, 
who  may  haul  a  big  shipment  of  boxes  containing  garments 
from  one  depot  to  another,  and  on  his  next  trip  between  depots, 
will  haul  a  load  of  nails  for  further  transportation  or  distribu- 
tion, performs  the  work  of  a  transport  worker,  and  as  such 
is  organized  in  the  union  of  that  industry. 

With  these  necessary  explanations,  suggestive  of  a  better 
understanding  of  the  plan  of  organization,  one  will  far  bettec 
be  able  to  see  how  industries  are  grouped  on  the  chart. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE  AND  FISHERIES 
No.  100. 

A.    Agricultural  Workers  Industrial  Union,  110. 
All  workers  on  farms,  irrigation  work,  cotton  and  sugar 
plantations.  All  workers  engaged  in  the  raising  of  cattle,  live- 
stock etc.,  on  fowl  and  bird  farms,  on  dairy  farms,  etc. 

B.  Lumber  Workers  Industrial  Union,  120. 

All  workers  in  forests;  rangers,  foresters,  etc.  all  workers 
engaged  in  logging  operations,  in  saw  and  shingle  mills,  and 
preparing  wood  for  fuel  and  manufacturing  purposes;  col- 
lectors of  sap,  btark,  etc. 

C.  Fishery  Workers  Industrial  Union,  130. 

All  workers  in  fishery  and  fishing  pursuits  on  ocean, 
lakes  and  rivers;  oyster  and  clam-bed  keepers.  Workers  en- 
gaged in  collecting  of  pearls,  corals  and  sponges.  Workers  in 
fish  hatcheries,  rivers,  etc. 

D.  Floral  Workers  Industrral  Union,  140. 

All  workers  engaged  in  orchards,  gardens,  vineyards,  truck 
farms,  green-  and  hot-houses,  on  fruit  farms.  All  workers  en- 
gaged in  silk  cultivation,  etc. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  MINING  AND  MINERALS,  200. 
A.    Metal  Mine  Workers  Industrial  Union,  210. 
All  workers  engaged  in  mining  of  gold,  silver,  copper, 
lead,  zinc,  tin,  platinum,  iron,  etc.,  etc.,  in  mills,  smelters,  re- 
fineries and  other  reduction  works.  For  the  present,  this  divi- 
sion also  includes  quarry  workers,  such  as  those  engaged  in 


6 


mining  of  salt,  sulphur,  clay,  borax,  mica,  bromide,  graphite, 
soda,  gypsum,  asphalt,  limestone,  sandstone,  whetstone,  marble, 
onyx,  slates,  building  stone,  granite,  etc.  All  precious  gems, 
salines,  salt  and  soda  dry  works,  etc. 

B.  Coal  Mine  Workers  Industrial  Union,  220. 

All  workers  engaged  in  coal  mining,  lignite,  anthracite, 
bituminous,  etc.  in  the  production  of  coke,  briquettes,  peat 
and  turf,  and  in  the  distribution  of  these  products. 

C.    Oil  Workers  Industrial  Union,  230. 

All  workers  engaged  in  the  production  of  oil,  and  in 
refineries,  gas  wells,  filters,  etc.,  and  in  the  distribution  of 
these  products. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  GENERAL  CONSTRUCTION,  300. 

A.  Railroad,  Road  and  Tunnel  Construction  Workers 
Industrial  Union,  310. 

All  workers  engaged  in  construction  of  docks,  railroads, 
l^ighways,  streets,  bridges,  sewers,  subways,  tunnels,  canals, 
viaducts,  irrigation  work  construction. 

B.    Shipbuilding  Workers  Industrial  Union,  320. 

All  workers  engaged  in  building  of  boats,  launches,  ships 
and  steamers  and  in  repairing  them;  dry  dock  workers,  etc. 

C.   Building  Construction  Workers  Industrial  Union,  330. 

All  workers  engaged  in  erecting  and  constructing  houses 
and  buildings,  the  delivery  of  building  material.  Plumbers, 
steam  and  sprinkler  fitters,  architects,  excavators,  stone 
masons,  bricklayers,  hod  carriers,  electricians,  painters,  iron 
workers,  carpenters,  etc. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  MANUFACTURE  AND  GENERAL 
PRODUCTION,  400. 

A.    Textile  Workers  Industrial  Union,  410. 

All  workers  engaged  in  cotton,  wool  and  silk,  linen,  flax 
fibre  mills,  etc.  Also  all  workers  engaged  in  manufacture  of 
wearing  apparel,  of  cloth,  fur,  straw  and  fabrics  of  all  kinds. 

B.  Wood  Workers  Industrial  Union,  420. 

All  workers  engaged  in  planing  mills,  piano  factories, 
furniture  factories,  broom  and  brush  factories,  coopers,  etc. 

7 


C.  Chemical  Workers  Industrial  Union,  430. 

All  workers  engaged  in  drugs,  paint,  rubber  and  gutta- 
percha goods,  powder,  dynamite  and  other  explosives;  medi- 
cines, chemicals,  perfumes,  inks,  etc.;  sulphide,  sulphite, 
cellulose,  graphite,  etc. 

D.  Metal  and  Machinery  Workers  Industrial  Union,  440. 

AH  workers  engaged  in  blast  furnaces,  steel  mills,  tin- 
plate  mills,  agricultural  machinery,  etc.  construction  of  cars, 
locomotives,  engines,  automobiles,  bicycles,  aeroplanes,  etc.  tool 
makers,  jewelry  and  watchmakers,  various  instruments,  etc.; 
electrical  workers,  electricians. 

E.  Printing  and  Publishing  Workers  Industrial  Union,  450. 

All  workers  on  papers,  books,  catalogues;  lithographers, 
iinotypers,  stereotypers,  electrotypers,  photoengravers,  photo- 
graphers, artists,  spot  knockers,  etc. 

F.   Foodstuff  Workers   Industrial   Union,  460. 

All  workers  in  flour  mills,  bakeries,  sugar  refineries, 
candy  and  syrup  factories,  packing  houses,  meat,  fish;  cold 
storage  plants,  milk  and  butter  creameries,  soda  factories, 
breweries  and  distilleries,  vinegar  and  soda  water  factories; 
tobacco  workers,  cigars,  cigarettes,  chewing,  snuff,  etc.;  can- 
ning factories,  hotels,  restaurants,  domestic  workers,  etc. 

G.  Leather  Workers   Industrial  Union,  470. 

All  workers  in  tanneries,  boot  shoe  and  glove  factories; 
harness  makers,  bags,  satchels,  trunk,  belts,  etc.,  etc. 

H.  Glass  and  Pottery  Workers  Industrial  Union,  480. 

All  workers  in  glass  factories,  potteries,  terra  cotta,  brick 
yards;  tiles,  china  ware,  etc.;  and  in  the  distribution  of  these 
products. 

I.  Pulp  and  Paper  Workers  Industrial  Union,  490. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  TRANSPORTATION  AND 
COMMUNICATION,  500. 

A.    Marine  Transport  Workers  Industrial  Union,  510. 

All  workers  engaged  in  marine  transportation,  steam, 
motor,  sailing  ships,  submarines,  etc.;  docks,  wharves,  long- 
shoremen, clerks;  all  workers  in  this  industry. 

8 


B.  Railroad  Workers  Industrial  Union,  520. 

All  workers  engaged  in  long  distance  railway,  steam 
and  electric;  third  rail  and  trolley,  in  freight  and  passenger 
service;  locomotive,  car  and  repair  shops;  passenger  and 
freight  yard  service;  car  cleaning,  freight  sheds;  passenger 
stations  and  office  forces,  etc. 

C.  Telegraph  and  Telephone  Workers  Industrial  Union,  530. 

All  workers  engaged  in  postal  telegraph,  telephone,  wire- 
less, radio  and  television  operation,  etc. 

D.  Municipal  Transportation  Workers  Industrial  Union,  540. 

All  workers  engaged  in  municipal,  short  distance  trans- 
portation service;  street  cars,  elevated  roads,  subways,  side- 
walks, etc. 

E.  Aerial   Navigation   Workers   Industrial   Union,  550. 
All  workers  employed  in  aerial  navigation. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  PUBLIC  SERVICE,  600. 

A,  Health  and  Sanitation  Workers  Industrial  Union,  610. 

All  workers  engaged  in  hospitals  and  health  restoration 
services;  physicians,  surgeons,  internes,  nurses,  attendants, 
clerks,  janitors,  etc, 

B.  Park  and  Highway  Maintenance  Workers  Industrial 
Union,  620. 

All  workers  engaged  in  street  cleaning,  in  parks,  and  on 
street  crossings. 

C.    Educational  Workers   Industrial   Union,  630. 

All  workers  in  educational  institutions,  schools,  colleges, 
universities  and  other  institutions  of  learning. 

D.  General  Distr'ibution  Workers  Industrial  Union,  640. 

All  workers  engaged  in  general  distribution,  department 
stores;  packers,  drivers,  clerks,  salesmen,  etc.,  etc. 

E.  Public  Utility  Workers  Industrial  Union,  650. 

All  workers  engaged  in  municipal,  water  and  electric 
supply  service;  waterworks,  public  service  works,  power,  etc. 

9 


F.  Amusement  Workers  Industrial  Union,  660. 

All  workers  in  theaters,  playhouses  and  motion  pictures; 
and  other  places  of  amusement  and  recreation. 

CONCLUSION 

When  now  and  then  advocates  of  a  better  system  of 
society  refer  to  the  new  unionism  they  do  it,  in  most  cases, 
without  knowing  fully  the  distinction  between  the  old  kind 
of  unionism  and  the  unionism  that  advocates — One  Big  Union 
for  the  Entire  Working  Class  the  World  Over!  But,  even  if 
the  critics  of  this  plan  of  action  disagree  with  this  booklet 
as  to  the  means  to  attain  a  desired  end,  they  can  no  longer 
plead  that  there  never  has  been  any  literature  presented  In 
which  the  program  of  industrial  unionists  has  been  enunciated. 

Organize  industrially;  organize  right!  This  is  the  call  to 
the  downtrodden  heard  all  over  the  world.  In  increasing 
numbers  the  proletariat  of  every  country  is  enlightening  itself 
on  the  subject,  and  everjrwhere  workers  are  preparing  for 
organization  in  which  th^y  will  find  the  embodiment  of  their 
collective  power  and  the  instrument  for  direct  action,  as 
occasion  and  conditions  may  command.  All  countries  of  the 
world  are  governed,  principally,  in  the  interests  of  the  small 
class  controlling  industrial  combinations.  Whenever  the 
workers  aimed  heavy  blows  at  these  interests  directly,  that 
is,  when  they  refused  to  serve,  temporarily,  in  the  production 
process  of  these  industries,  the  exploiting  class  all  over  the 
world  burst  out  in  frantic  denunciations  of  the  forces  that  had 
so  little  regard  for  private  property. 

The  industrial  unionists  propose  to  organize  the  workers 
for  more  militant  action  within  present  day  society,  so  that, 
with  every  advance  gained,  the  workers  will  gain  an  appetite 
for  more  and  for  all,  and  will  find  the  means  to  get  it. 

And  in  all  these  days  of  unrest,  and  struggle,  industrial 
unionists  are  preparing  the  administrative,  the  productive 
agencies,  for  the  industrial  commonwealth.  Representatives 
elected  by  the  workers,  organized  in  their  industrial  organiza- 
tions, will  constitute  the  industrial  parliament  of  the  future, 
the  workers'  commune  in  municipal,  national  and  international 
affairs. 


10 


STUDY  THE  CHART 


Observe  how  commercialism,  the  main  factor  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  capitalist  system  of  production,  encircles  the 
whole  globe  with  the  means  land  tributaries  at  its  service: 

Transportation  facilities  as  the  messengers  for  the  ex- 
change of  products  between  countries  and  continents  know 
no  boundary  lines — land,  water,  air  have  been  conquered  and 
rendered  servants  of  the  monstrous  forces  behind  the  pre- 
vailing industrial  system  of  production  and  exchange. 

Industrial  development  has  wiped  out  boundary  lines  be- 
tween sectional  territories. 

National  dividing  lines  disappear  before  the  invincible, 
inter-industrial  force  of  the  conqueror. 

Continents  so  long  separated  by  landmarks  and  obstacles 
of  natural  origin  are  linked  and  joined  together  by  the 
gigantic  weld  of  that  international  carrier  of  exchange  and 
distribution. 

But  the  functions  of  that  agent  of  a  social  system  are 
still  today  confined  to  the  service  of  profit-production  for  a 
few.  At  any  time  they  choose  the  employing  class  can  shut 
down  their  mines,  mills  and  factories, — throwing  millions  of 
willing  workers  on  the  street. 

Traditional  falsehoods,  which  today  are  taught  by  the 
press,  school  and  pulpit,  and  which  hold  men  and  women  in 
intellectual,  and  hence  industrial  bondage,  must  disappear; 
national  separation  must  be  swept  aside  by  the  advancing  of 
international  co-operation,  before  the  highest  and  most 
marvelous  stages  of  industrial  development,  social  progress, 
and  perfection  in  the  utilization  of  all  elements  subservient 
to  the  generating  powers  of  mankind,  can  be  achieved,  and 
a  higher  social  order,  based  on  modern  scientific  technology 
can  be  established. 

THE  SECOND  INTERNATIONAL  LINE 

Observe  also  how  a  second  transcontinental  line  connects 
the  world's  component  parts  into  one  inseparable  whole. 
Science  and  scientific  research  and  discoveries  are  the  inter- 
national agencies  by  which  the  riddles  and  miracles  of  the 
universe,  in  all  their  magnitude,  are  solved  and  explained. 
Institutions  of  learning,  schools  and  universities  are  linked 


11 


together  by  the  uniformity  of  fundamental  laws  governing 
science  and  the  dissemination  of  knowledge  and  discoveries. 

Likewise  are  evils  and  afflictions,  springing  irresistibly 
from  the  same  sources,  suffered  alike  by  all  living  beings 
throughout  the  world.  Remedies  and  means  of  prevention 
must,  consequently,  assume  the  character  of  international 
agencies,  deriving  their  support  from  the  necessity  of  eliminat- 
ing and  curing  the  evils,  and  of  removing  the  causes  for 
their  existence. 

Hospitals,  as  curing  stations;  cleaning,  sanitary  and  pro- 
tective agencies,  as  institutions  for  prevention;  the  supply 
stations  of  water,  light,  and  other  means  of  public  need  are 
therefore  joined  together  with  the  institutions  of  learning 
and  with  the  agencies  for  recreation  and  amusement,  into  one 
great  chain  of  international  dependence,  and  are  formed  and 
maintained  in  the  pursuit  of  functions  preventive  as  well  as 
beneficial,  as  the  promotors  and  protectors  of  public  in- 
terests and  universal  weal. 

FOUR  CARDINAL  FUNCTIONS 

Observe,  then,  how  in  the  complex  process  of  produc- 
tion of  the  necessities  of  life  four  cardinal  functions  com- 
prise the  interlocking  chain  of  industrial  activity,  through 
which  the  resources  of  the  earth  must  run  before  their  ulti- 
mate use_. 

From  the  soil,  the  woods,  and  the  waters  all  material 
required  for  producing  purposes  is  secured  by  the  labor  of 
the  millions  serving  in  the  social  process  in  raising  and  procur- 
ing the  raw  products  for  food,  raiment  and  shelter. 

From  the  bowels  and  the  treasures  of  the  earth  labor  puts 
out  the  material  for  fuel  and  the  essential  things  which,  after 
being  transformed,  comprise  the  implements  and  machinery 
of  production  and  distribution. 

With  the  matter  thus  furnished  production  proper  for 
the  providing  of  all  necessary  things  of  life  and  comfort  is 
carried  on  in  the  various,  but  inter-depending  places  of  pro- 
duction, mill  and  factories. 

With  all  these  things  combined  the  constructive  hand  of 
labor  builds  the  houses  of  shelter  for  the  protection  of  life 
and  matter  against  the  adversities  of  nature's  forces,  and  har- 
nesses them  to  render  service  for  social  good. 


12 


LABOR  THE  SOLE  PRODUCER. 


To  all  of  the  making  and  development  of  these  social 
institutions  the  workers,  and  they  alone,  contribute  their  in- 
tellect and  their  manual  labor.  They  have  created  the  instru- 
ments to  produce  wealth  with,  and  improved  them  as  time 
rolled  by. 

These  institutions  are  organized  in  their  operative  func- 
tions to  yield  profits  for  a  few  who  never  did,  nor  do,  con- 
tribute to  their  making  and  maintenance,  except  in  a  manner 
to  protect  them  in  the  possession  of  things  that  they  did  not 
make. 

The  human  forces  rendering  these  instruments,  agencies 
and  implements  useful  to  all  society,  and  adding  value  to 
matter  and  forces  of  nature,  are  divorced  from  their  crea- 
tions by  powerful  combinations  of  parasitic  nature,  by  which 
a  few  control  all  the  co-ordinate  stations  of  industrial  life 
through  the  means  that  they  have  organized  and  subjected  to 
their  rulership.  Against  these  hostile  powers  the  workers  must 
organize  their  own  resources  and  their  own  collective  power, 
in  organizations  embracing  all  useful  members  of  society  and 
wealth  producers. 

THE  MISSION  OF  THE  WORKING  CLASS. 

A  labor  organization  to  correctly  represent  the  working 
class  must  have  two  things  in  view. 

First:  It  must  combine  the  wage-workers  in  such  a  way 
that  it  can  most  successfully  fight  the  battles  and  protect  the 
interests  of  the  workers  of  today  in  their  struggles  for  fewer 
hours  of  toil,  more  wages  and  better  conditions. 

Secondly:  It  must  offer  a  final  solution  of  the  labor  prob- 
lem— an  emancipation  from  economic  insecurity,  depressions, 
class-rule  and  the  exploitation  of  class  by  class.  In  other  words 
it  must  free  humanity  from  wage  slavery. 

Observe 

How  this  organization  will  give  recognition  to  control  of  shop 
affairs,  provide  perfect  industrial  unionism  and  converge  the 
strength  of  all  organized  workers  to  a  common  center,  from 
which  any  weak  point  can  be  strengthened  and  protected. 

Observe,  also, 

How  the  growth  and  development  of  this  organization  will 
build  within  itself  the  structure  of  an  industrial  democracy, 


13 


which  must  finally  burst  the  shell  of  the  capitalist  order 
and  be  the  agency  by  which  the  workers  will  operate  the  in- 
dustries and  appropriate  the  products  to  themselves. 
One  obligation  for  all. 

A  union  man  once  and  in  one  industry;  a  union  man  al- 
ways and  in  all  industries.  Universal  transfers,  unversal  em- 
blem. 

All  workers  of  one  industry  in  one  union;  all  unions  of 
workers  in  One  Big  Union — the  industrial  workers  of  the 
world. 

Industrial  unionism  is  not  confined  to  one  country.  The 
best  expression  of  it  is  found  in  America,  in  the  Industral 
Workers  of  the  World,  although  the  organization  may  appear 
to  be  still  weak,  numerically.  But  the  conditions  for  the  ad- 
vent of  the  industrial  revolutionary  union  are  most  promis- 
ing, because  the  most  advanced  and  highly  developed  indus- 
trial system  of  production  is  bound  to  find  its  counterpart  in 
a  similarly  perfected  organization  of  the  working  class  on  the 
industrial  field. 

As  presented  in  this  booklet,  these  institutions  for  wealth 
production,  so  well  organized,  so  masterfully  constructed,  sug- 
gest the  best  forms  of  industrial  organizations  for  the  workers. 

Industries  are  organized  in  six  departments,  which  are 
composed  of  twenty-nine  subdivisions  or  industrial  unions. 

This  arrangement  is  not  arbitrarily  fixed,  nor  the  product 
of  one  man's  notion.  The  best  tabulations  of  statistical  experts 
of  different  countries  have  been  consulted,  and  the  system- 
atic arrangement  will  stand  the  test  of  scientific  investigation. 

Of  course,  it  has  been  stated,  and  is  herewith  reiterated, 
that  this  arrangement  of  industrial  organization  of  workers 
would  also  assure  the  most  effective  solidarity  of  all  produc- 
ing forces  in  their  defensive  and  aggressive  struggles  for  the 
'imelioration  of  the  evils  they  suffer  under,  evils  inherent  in 
the  capitalist  system  of  distribution  of  the  commodities  created 
by  labor. 

When  the  workers  organize  industrial  unions,  copied 
from  the  institutions  in  which  they  are  employed,  they  will  be 
able  to  stand  together  as  powerful  industrial  combinations  in 
their  skirmishes  for  better  working  conditions  in  any  one  in- 
dustry. Not  separated  by  craft  divisions  or  trade  union  con- 
tracts with  the  exploiters,  they  will  not  only  be  able  to  cur- 
tail production  on  a  small  scale  and  thus  also  the  profits  of 
the  employers  of  labor,  but  they  will  abruptly  stop  production 
altogether,  if  necessary,  in  any  one  industry,  or  in  all  indus- 


14 


tries  of  a  locality,  or  of  a  nation,  or  they  can,  when  they  are 
powerful  enough,  shut  the  factories  against  the  present  em- 
ployers and  commence  production  for  use. 

The  workers,  though,  must  tear  down,  as  a  first  duty  to 
themselves,  all  craft  demarcation  lines,  the  remnants  of  a  by- 
gone age.  Unhampered  by  that  drag-chain,  they  can  then  de- 
velop and  organze  their  industrial  power.  But  that  power  must 
be  guilded  in  its  use  and  exercise  by  the  collective  intelligence 
which  will  develop  simultaneously  with  the  generation  of  pow- 
er. Equipped  with  the  power  of  an  industrial  organization, 
with  the  knowledge  gained  in  the  every-day  struggles  against 
the  oppressors,  they  will  successfully  strive  for  a  higher 
standard  of  life-conditions,  within  this  system,  and  they  can 
master  things  and  forces  so  that  they  will  reach  the  final  goal 
of  all  efforts — complete  industrial  emancipation. 

Hundreds  of  thousands  of  workers  in  every  civilized 
country  are  learning  to  understand  the  principles  of  indusrial 
unionism.  Thousands  are  organizing  for  the  battle  of  today, 
for  better  conditions,  and  for  the  final  clash  in  the  future 
when  the  general  lockout  of  the  parasite  class  of  non-pro- 
ducers will  end  the  contest  of  industrial  control  and  po- 
litical supremacy. 

If  you  are  one  of  the  millions  needed  to  accomplish  the 
task,  join  the  industrial  union  composed  of  workers  in  the 
shop  or  plant  where  you  work.  If  none  exists,  be  the  first  to 
get  busy.  Get  others,  organize  them.  Learn  to  tackle  the  in- 
dustrial problems.  Show  others  how  the  workers  will  be  able 
to  run  the  industrial  plants  through  the  agencies  of  their  own 
creation,  locally,  nationally,  internationally,  the  world  over. 

There  are  organizations  everywhere,  and  where  there  are 
none,  they  will  be  formed.  In  the  industrial  union  movement 
alone  will  the  workers  forge  the  sword,  train  themselves  for 
the  use  of  all  and  every  weapon  that  can  be  utilized  in  the 
struggles  for  a  better  world.  In  the  industrial  union  move- 
ment the  workers  will  strictly  adhere  to  the  great  axiom: 

"The  emancipation  of  the  workers  must  be  achieved  by 
ohe  working  class  itself, 

"Workers  of  the  World,  Unite!" 

Read  the  Manifesto,  issued  by  the  Industrial  Workers  of 
the  World.  This,  v^th  large  size  highly  detailed  chart,  will 
be  sent  to  any  address  for  five  cents. 

For  information  regarding  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the 
World  referred  to  in  this  booklet,  write  to  the  General  Secre- 
tary-Treasurer, 555  West  Lake  Street,  Chicago,  Illinois. 


15 


THE  PREAMBLE 

*       ★  * 

OF  THE  INDUSTRIAL  WORKERS  OF  THE  WORLD 

The  working  class  and  the  employing  class  have  noth- 
ing in  common.  There  can  be  no  peace  so  long  as  hunger 
and  want  are  found  among  millions  of  working  people 
and  the  few,  who  make  up  the  employing  class,  have 
all  the  good  things  of  life. 

Between  these  two  classes  a  struggle  must  go  on 
until  the  workers  of  the  wold  organize  as  a  class, 
take  possession  of  the  earth  and  the  machinery  of 
production,  and  abolish  the  wage  system. 

We  find  that  the  centering  of  management  of  the 
industries  into  fewer  and  fewer  hands  makes  the  trad3 
unions  unable  to  cope  with  the  ever  growing  power  of 
the  employing  class.  The  trade  unions  foster  a  state  of 
affairs  which  allows  one  set  of  workers  to  be  pitted 
against  another  set  of  workers  in  the  same  industry, 
thereby  helping  defeat  one  another  in  wage  wars.  More- 
over, the  trade  unions  aid  the  employing  class  to  mis- 
lead the  workers  into  the  belief  that  the  working  class 
have  interests  in  comimon  with  their  employers. 

These  conditions  can  be  changed  and  the  interest  of 
the  working  class  upheld  only  by  an  organization 
formed  in  such  a  way  that  all  its  members  in  any  one 
industry,  or  in  all  industries  if  necessary,  cease  work 
whenever  a  strike  or  lockout  is  on  in  any  department 
thereof,  thus  making  an  injury  to  one  an  injury  to  all. 

Instead  of  the  conservative  motto,  "A  fair  day's  wage 
for  a  fair  day's  work,"  we  must  inscribe  on  our  banner 
the  revolutionary  watcfhword,  "Abolition  of  the  wage 
system." 

It  is  the  historic  mission  of  the  working  class  to  do 
away  with  capitalism.  The  army  of  production  must  be 
organized,  not  only  for  the  every-day  struggle  with 
capitalists,  but  also  to  carry  on  production  when  cap- 
italism shall  have  been  overthrown.  By  organizing  in- 
dustrially we  are  forming  the  structure  of  the  new  so- 
ciety within  the  shell  of  the  old. 


16 


This  Pamphlet,  Published  March  1933,  Price  5c 

c^^fea  618 


rHE  LUMBER  INDUSTRY 


^  AND  ITS  WORKERS 


RICE      TWENTY-FIVE  CENTS 

Institute  of  Industrial  Relations 
University  of  California 


Second  Edition 

THE  LUMBER 
INDUSTRY  and 
ITS  WORKERS 


  PUBLISHED   BY   THE  —  

INDUSTRIAL  WORKERS  OF  THE  WORLD 
•1001  W.  MADISON  ST.,  CHICAGO,  ILL.,  U.  S.  A. 


Printed  by  members  of  the  P.  P.  TF.  /.  U,  No.,  450  of  the  I,  W.  W. 


The  Lumber  Industry  and  Its  Workers 


CHAPTER  1. 

LUMBER  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  OTHER  INDUSTRIES 

FROM  the  light  that  science  projects  into  the  obscurity  of 
the  remote  past  we  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  not 
only  the  progress  but  the  very  existence  of  the  human 
race  was  dependent  on  timber.  The  trees  provided  a  refuge 
for  our  ape-like  ancestors  and  thus  saved  them  from  destruc- 
tion by  the  monstrous  beasts  and  reptiles  that  then  inhabited 
the  earth.  The  first  weapon  of  primitive  man  was  a  wooden 
club.  Without  wood  the  discovery  of  fire,  which  started  man 
on  the  road  of  civilization,  would  have  been  impossible.  The 
invention  of  the  wooden  bow-and-arrow  marks  the  beginning  of 
another  important  stage  in  the  advance  of  the  race.  In  his  first 
rude  attempts  at  agriculture  the  savage  scratched  the  ground 
with  a  pointed  stick,  which  later  evolved  into  the  wooden  plow. 
In  the  early  stages  of  development  man  lived  without  agricult- 
ure, but  it  is  scarcely  conceivable  that  his  existence  would  ever 
have  been  possible  without  timber. 

As  the  race  passed  from  savagery  thru  barbarism  to  civiliza- 
tion wood  remained  essential  to  its  progress.  Even  today,  with- 
out wood  and  the  products  of  wood,  civilization  in  its  present 
form  could  not  exist.  In  our  daily  lives  we  are  constantly  de- 
pendent on  wood.  We  live  in  wooden  houses,  sleep  in  wooden 
beds  or  bunks,  sit  on  wooden  chairs,  eat  at  wooden  tables,  use 
wooden  toothpicks  and  matches,  walk  on  wooden  sidewalks, 
ride  in  wooden  cars,  sail  in  wooden  ships,  and  finally  are  put  in 
wooden  cofiins  and  hauled  to  the  boneyard  in  wooden  hearses. 
Policemen  enforce  the  law  with  wooden  clubs,  and  only  too  often 
that  same  law  is  the  product  of  wooden  heads.  The  newspapers 
and  books  we  read  and  the  paper  on  which  we  write  are  made 
from  wood  pulp.  An  endless  variety  of  commodities,  both  solid 
and  liquid,  are  stored  and  transported  in  wooden  boxes  and  bar- 
rels. Wood  is  extensively  used  as  a  fuel,  and  some  idea  of  its 
value  in  that  capacity  may  be  gained  from  the  following  esti- 
mate by  the  Forest  Service,  United  States  Department  of  Agri- 
culture : 

*'In  heating  value  one  standard  cord  of  well-seasoned 
hickory,  oak,  beech,  birch,  hard  maple,  ash,  elm,  locust  or 
cherry  wood  is  approximately  equal  to  one  ton  (2,000 
pounds)  of  anthracite  coal.  However,  a  cord  and  a  half  of 
soft  maple,  and  two  cords  of  cedar,  poplar,  or  bass  wood, 
are  required  to  give  the  same  amount  of  heat. 

''One  cord  of  mixed  wood,  well-seasoned,  equals  in  heat- 
ing value  at  least  one  ton  of  average  grade  bituminous  coal. 


3 


"Either  as  raw  material  or  as  part  of  the  tools  and  ma- 
chinery, lumber  is  used  in  all  industries." 

In  Agriculture  the  farmer  must  have  lumber  to  build  his 
dwelling  house,  barn,  granaries,  silos,  etc.  To  fence  his  fields 
he  must  have  wooden  posts;  often  the  entire  fence  is  made  of 
wood.  He  picks  his  fruit  from  a  wooden  ladder,  packs  it  in 
wooden  boxes,  with  wood  pulp  paper,  and  hauls  it  to  the  railroad 
in  a  wooden  wagon.  Wood  forms  a  part  of  all  agricultural  tools, 
implements  and  machinery.  Late  statistics  show  that  the  present 
demand  for  wood  for  farm  implements  exceeds  320,000,000  feet 
a  year,  and  if  the  wood  that  goes  into  agricultural  hand  tools 
were  added  the  total  would  probably  exceed  400,000,000  feet. 

In  the  Mining  Industry  wood  is  used  to  timber  the  mines  to 
prevent  them  from  caving  in.  Wooden  ties  support  the  tracks 
in  and  around  the  mines.  Wooden  cars  transport  the  coal  or  ore 
from  the  working  to  the  shaft.  Shaft  houses  and  other  build- 
ings around  the  mines  are  built  wholly  or  partly  of  lumber.  In 
coal  mining,  timber  forms  the  principal  part  of  tipples,  washers, 
etc.  Wood  forms  part  of  some  of  the  mining  tools  and  machin- 
ery. Without  lumber  it  would  be  practically  impossible  to  carry 
on  mining. 

In  the  Construction  Industry  lumber  is  one  of  the  principal 
raw  materials.  Even  when  the  main  part  of  a  building  is  of 
some  other  material  (such  as  brick,  stone,  steel  or  concrete) 
lumber  is  used  for  floors,  ceilings,  laths,  window  frames,  doors, 
and  in  many  other  ways.  On  buildings  lumber  is  used  for  stag- 
ing. On  concrete  work  to  construct  the  forms,  and  for  temporary 
supports.  On  railroad  and  general  construction  work  timber  is 
used  for  bridge  building,  for  culverts,  for  piling,  railroad  ties,  etc. 
Wood  forms  an  important  part  of  the  machinery  of  construction, 
such  as  derricks,  steam  shovels,  dump  cars  and  the  like.  Most 
of  the  tools  used  in  this  industry  are  part  wood.  Lumber  is  used 
to  build  the  camps  which  shelter  the  men  and  animals  em- 
ployed. If  the  supply  of  lumber  were  cut  off  it  would  only  be  a 
short  time  before  the  entire  building  industry  would  be  forced 
to  shut  down. 

The  Transportation  Industry  is  literally  supported  by  wood. 
The  275,000  miles  of  railroad  track  in  the  United  States  rest  on 
wooden  ties.  It  is  estimated  that  the  railroad  and  electric  lines 
of  the  country  use  approximately  one  hundred  and  twenty  mil- 
lion ties  every  year.  The  vast  network  of  telegraph  and  tele- 
phone wires  that  covers  the  country  is  upheld  by  wooden  poles. 
By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  rolling  stock  is  built  of  lumber. 

In  Marine  Transportation  lumber  is  far  from  being  a  thing 
of  the  past.  A  large  part  of  the  commerce  of  the  world  is  still 
carried  in  wooden  ships.  The  small  boats,  scows  and  barges  in 
the  harbors  and  on  the  canals  and  rivers  are  built  almost  entirely 
of  wood.  Lumber  is  used  for  docks  and  wharves,  and  where 
other  materials  are  used  they  often  rest  on  wooden  piling. 

General  Manufacturing. — How  vital  lumber  is  to  this  indus- 
try can  be  appreciated  by  quoting  a  few  figures.  Fifty-two 
thousand,  or  nineteen  per  cent  of  the  276,000  manufactur- 


4 


ing  establishments 
in  this  country,  use 
wood  solely  or  in 
part  as  raw  ma- 
terial. These  52,- 
000  establishments 
furnish  employ- 
ment to  1,130,000 
wage  -  earners,  or 
sixteen  per  cent  of 
the  7,000,00  wage- 
earners  in  the  Unit- 
ed States.  What- 
ever goes  towards 
curtailing  the  sup- 
plies of  raw  forest 
products  to  these 
estab  1  ishments 
tends  to  rupture  the 
continuous  employment  of  a  vast  army  of  wage-workers,  and 
thus  affects  the  larger  army  of  their  dependents.  In  a  nutshell, 
one-fifth  of  all  manufacturing  establishments  and  one-sixth  of 
all  the  wage-workers  in  the  United  States  are  directly  dependent 
for  raw  material  on  the  product  of  the  lumberjack's  labor. 

The  Printing  and  Publishing  Industry  is  directly  dependent 
on  the  product  of  the  forest.  Cutting  off  the  supply  of  pulp  wood 
from  which  paper  is  made  would  completely  paralyze  this  in- 
dustry, cause  the  suspension  of  all  newspapers  and  magazines, 
stop  the  printing  of  books,  and  throw  many  thousands  out  of 
employment.  It  is  estimated  by  the  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Do- 
mestic Commerce  that  the  annual  consumption  of  wood  pulp 
exceeds  3,000,000  tons,  of  which  one-fifth  is  imported.  The 
wood-pulp  industry  produces  annually  an  output  valued  at  over 
$80,000,000. 

These  are  only  a  few  of  the  principal  uses  of  wood.  Its  uses 
are  endless,  and  extend  to  every  industry  and  every  phase  of 
life.  The  industrial  census  of  1913  shows  the  forests  of  the 
United  States  annually  supply  over  one  and  a  quarter  billion 
dollars'  worth  of  products;  employ  735,000  workers;  and  pay 
$367,000,000  in  wages. 

While  all  other  industries  depend  directly  or  indirectly  on 
lumber,  the  lumber  industry  is  also  dependent  on  all  others. 
Agriculture  furnishes  the  food  necessary  to  support  the  lumber 
workers,  the  raw  material  from  which  their  clothes  and  shoes 
are  made,  and  the  work  animals  employed  to  move  the  logs. 

Mining  furnishes  the  raw  material  from  which  axes,  saws, 
steel  rails,  and  logging  and  sawmill  machinery  are  made.  It 
furnishes  most  of  the  fuel  to  run  this  machinery,  and  the  oil  to 
lubricate  it.  Even  in  its  most  primitive  form  logging  could  not 
be  carried  on  without  the  product  of  the  mine. 

Construction  workers  build  the  sawmills  and  the  roads  over 
which  the  logs  are  hauled. 


DOUGLAS  FIR  LOGS,  WASHINGTON 


5 


Transportation  workers  move  the  logs  from  forest  to  mill, 
and  the  lumber  from  mill  to  consumer.  They  bring  the  neces- 
sary supplies — food,  clothing,  fuel,  etc. — from  farm  and  factory 
to  logging  camp  and  sawmill  town. 

The  manufacturing  industry  produces  logging  and  sawmill 
machinery  and  tools;  also  stoves,  cooking  utensils,  etc.,  used  by 
lumber  workers,  and  the  clothes  and  shoes  they  wear. 

No  one  industry  is  independent  of  the  others;  all  are  inter- 
dependent. The  workers  in  the  lumber  industry  are  not  only 
a  part  of  that  industry  but  are  also  a  part  of  industry  as  a  whole, 
which  is  carried  on  by  the  workers  in  the  different  industries  co- 
operating together.  This  co-operation  is  mostly  unconscious  on 
the  part  of  the  workers,  for  they  are  organized  by  the  capitalists 
to  produce  for  the  benefit  of  the  capitalists,  and  do  not  control 
these  producing  organizations. 

Not  only  are  all  industries  interdependent;  that  is  also  true 
of  all  countries.  Often  one  country  furnishes  the  raw  material 
and  another  turns  out  the  finished  product.  Modern  industry 
is  bigger  than  any  one  country ;  it  is  world-wide,  and  pays  little 
attention  to  national  boundary  lines.  It  is  carried  on  by  means 
of  co-operation  (altho  unconscious)  among  the  workers  in  all 
industries  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  For  instance,  American  lum- 
ber workers,  English  marine  transport  workers,  and  Chinese  con- 
struction workers  may  co-operate  to  build  houses  or  railroads  in 
China.  The  Lumber  Industry  of  the  United  States  is  greatly 
affected  by  transportation  facilities  by  land  and  water  between 
different  parts  of  the  world,  and  also  by  the  timber  supply  of 
other  countries. 

The  following  table,  compiled  by  the  United  States  Forest 
Service,  shows  the  acreage  of  forests  in  the  principal  countries 
of  the  world : 

Europe.  Acres. 

Austria-Hungary    53,000,000 

Finland    53,000,000 

France   24,000,000 

Germany    35,000,000 

Norway    17,000,000 

Russia  in  Europe  465,000,000 

Sweden    49,000,000 

Ml  other   54,000,000 


Total  Europe  750,000,000 

Asia.  Acres. 

India  149,000,000 

Japan    58,000,000 

Philippines   49,000,000 

Russian  Asia  348,000,000 

All  other   7,000,000 


Africa. 

Acres. 

Central  Africa  

224,000,000 

Madagascar   

25,000,000 

All  other   

10,000,000 

Total  Africa 

259,000,000 

America. 

A.cres 

Alaska  

107,000,000 

Canada   

799,000,000 

Mexico   

25,000,000 

South  America 

528,000,000 

United  States   

545,000,000 

West  Indies   

43,000,000 

Total  America 

 2,047,000,000 

Total  Asia  611,000,000 

Australasia   133,000,000  Grand  Total   3,800,000,000 

The  work  of  the  men  in  the  woods  and  sawmills  is  indispens- 
able to  society.  But  owing  to  their  lack  of  organization  they 


6 


allow  society  to  condemn  them  to  hard  labor  for  life,  and  to 
deny  them  an  opportunity  to  enjoy  the  benefits  of  civilization. 
The  workers  operate  industry,  but  get  little  of  the  wealth  their 
labor  produces.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  they  do  not  control 
industry.  Organized  in  the  right  way  and  using  scientific  tactics, 
they  have  the  power  to  stop  industry,  or  to  control  it  and  run  it 
for  their  benefit. 

How  this  can  be  done  will  be  explained  in  a  later  chapter. 


7 


CHAPTER  2. 


EARLY  METHODS  OF  LOGGING.* 

HE  evolution  of  the  sawmill  is  largely  due  to  conditions  and 


demands  of  the  lumber  industry  in  America.  The  early  col- 


onists  built  and  operated  sawmills  one  hundred  years  before 
there  was  one  in  England.  However,  the  wood-working  industry 
was  highly  developed  in  that  country  long  before  the  first  sawmill 
was  erected.  So  if  a  sawmill  did  not  always  appear  in  a  colony 
soon  after  the  first  settlement,  it  does  not  follow  that  no  lumber- 
ing was  carried  on.  They  had  other  means  of  manufacturing  the 
forest  products. 

The  pioneer  of  the  wilderness  with  axe  and  wedge  could 
easily  supply  his  few  wants  in  this  respect;  but  in  the  villages 
which  sprang  up  at  each  important  trading  part  there  was  a  de- 
mand for  building  material  and  ship  timber,  which  the  villagers 
themselves  could  not  supply.  Most  of  them  were  engaged  in  bet- 
ter-paying pursuits  or  professions;  hence  some  labor  found  em- 
ployment in  manufacturing  lumber  by  hand.  The  large  timbers 
for  house  and  ship  building  were  hewn  out  and  squared  with  a 
broad-axe  by  men  who  were  experts  with  this  tool.  The  planks, 
boards  and  boat-sides  were  mostly  made  by  pit-sawing.  The 
latter  was  a  common  industry  in  England ;  and  one  reason  why 
that  country  had  no  sawmills  until  after  1768  was  because  the 
mobs,  always  opposed  to  labor-saving  machinery,  destroyed  the 
first  ones  as  fast  as  they  were  erected,  thru  fear  that  the  pit- 
sawyers  would  be  thrown  out  of  employment. 


Pit-sawing  was  done  by  two  men  with  a  long  saw  that  had 
cross  handles  on  each  end.  A  stick  of  timber,  hewed  square, 
was  placed  over  a  pit,  or  elevated  on  trestles.  One  man  stood 
on  top  and  pulled  the  saw  up  while  the  other  stood  in  the  pit 
below  and  pulled  it  down.  The  workman  on  top  who  guided  the 
saw  along  the  chalk-line,  and  who  was  supposedly  the  better 
man,  was  called  the  pit-man.  When  sawmills  were  first  substi- 
tuted in  this  work  the  saw  was  held  taut  on  the  upward  stroke 
by  a  springpole  overhead,  and  was  worked  up  and  down  by  a 
wooden  beam  attached  to  a  crank  on  the  mill  wheel.  This  wooden 
beam  was  called  the  pitman,  and  is  still  known  by  that  name  in 
every  saw-mill  in  the  country.  Pit-sawing  or  whip-sawing,  as  it 


*  The  facts  given  in  this  chapter  were  obtained  from  an  article  entitled  "A  History 
of  the  Logging  Industry  in  the  State  of  New  York,"  by  Wm.  F.  Fox,  Superintendent  of 
Forests  in  that  state,  and  a  collaborator  of  the  Bureau  of  Forestry.  This  article  was  pub- 
lished in  1902  as  Bulletin  34  by  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  Bureau  of  Forestry. 


Pit-Sawing. 


8 


is  often  called,  was  not  en- 
tirely abandoned  on  the  in- 
troduction of  saw-mills.  This 
old  method  was  still  useful 
in  sawing  long  stuff,  be- 
cause in  many  mills  the  car- 
riage was  not  long  enough 
to  saw  planks  of  the  desired 
length. 

In  the  Hudson  River  Val- 
ley no  settlement  was  made, 
nor  house  erected,  by  white 
men  until  1614.  Just  when 
the  labor  of  the  settlers  first 
took  the  form  we  call  lum- 
bering it  is  impossible  to  say. 
In  1623,  nine  years  after  the 
first  house  was  built  at  New 
Amsterdam,  three  sawmills 
were  erected  by  the  Dutch 
West  India  Company;  and 
with  their  erection  begins  the 
history  of  lumbering  in  the 
PIT-SAWING  State  of  New  York. 

The  machinery  for  these 
mills,  which  was  shipped  from  Holland,  was  constructed  to  run 
by  water  power  or  by  wind-mill.  One  of  them  was  built  on  Gov- 
ernor's Island,  and  was  probably  operated  by  wind  power;  an- 
other, which  stood  on  Sawmill  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  East 
River,  may  have  used  a  water  wheel.  In  1639  the  mill  on  Gov- 
ernor's Island  was  based  at  the  annual  rental  of  500  merchant- 
able boards,  half  oak  and  half  pine. 

About  the  same  time,  perhaps  a  little  earlier,  some  sawmills 
were  built  at  Fort  Orange  (Albany)  or  in  its  immediate  vicinity. 
Andries  Corstiaensen,  a  master  millwright,  with  two  sawyers, 
was  sent  there  from  Holland  in  1630.  Among  the  settlers  at 
Rensselaerwyck  (Troy),  in  1630,  were  Lawrens  Lawrenssen  and 
Barent  Tomassen,  sawyers.  In  1636  Barent  Pieterse  Koeymans 
joined  the  colony,  and  in  the  fall  of  1645  took  charge  of  the 
Patroon's  sawmills,  being  allowed  150  guilders  a  year  for  board 
and  3  stuyvers  for  every  plank  he  sawed.  In  two  years  this  mill 
cut  over  4,000  boards.  In  1673  Koeymans  bought  a  large  tract 
of  land  on  the  Hudson  River,  12  miles  south  of  Albany  (the  loca- 
tion of  the  present  town  of  Coeymans),  on  which  there  were 
some  desirable  mill-sites,  and  where  Cruyn  Cornelissen  and  Hans 
Jonsen  had  erected  sawmills  as  early  as  1651. 

The  colonists  soon  made  other  settlements  in  the  Hudson 
Valley,  and  in  1661  Frans  Pietero  Clavers  built  a  sawmill  on 
the  little  stream  which  runs  into  the  river  2  miles  north  of  Stuyve- 
sant  Landing,  in  what  is  now  the  town  of  Kinderhook,  Columbia 
County.  This  stream  has  been  known  as  the  Saw  Kill  ever  since. 
In  1663  a  sawmill  was  built  by  Jan  Barendsen  Wemp  on  the 

9 


Poesten  Kill,  a 
stream  which  emp- 
ties into  the  Hud- 
son at  Troy.  As 
the  falls  of  the 
Poesten  Kill  (Puf- 
fing or  Foaming 
Creek)  furnished 
a  strong  water- 
power,  it  may  be 
assumed  that  this 
mill  was  driven  by 
a  water-wheel. 

In  a  letter  to  the 
Lords  of  Trade, 
England,  dated  2d 
of  January,  1701, 
the  Earl  of  Bello- 
mont  says: 

"They  have  got 
about  40  sawmills 
up  in  this  province 
(the  province  of 
New  York)  which 
I  hear  rids  more 
woods  and  destroys 
more  timber  than 
all  the  sawmills  in  New  Hampshire.  Four  saws  are  the  most  in 
New  Hampshire  that  work  in  one  mill,  and  here  is  a  Dutchman, 
lately  come  over,  who  is  an  extraordinary  artist  at  these  mills. 
Mr.  Livingston  told  me  this  last  summer  he  had  made  him  a  mill 
that  went  with  12  saws.  A  few  such  mills  will  quickly  destroy 
all  the  woods  in  the  province  at  a  reasonable  distance  from  them." 

For  the  first  two  hundred  years  the  mills  were  of  rude  con- 
struction and  of  small  capacity,  most  of  them  being  limited  to 
a  single  upright  saw.  At  first  this  saw  was  attached  directly  to 
the  pitman,  the  blade  being  steadied  by  a  side  pressure  from 
guide  blocks.  Then  an  improvement  was  made  by  straming  the 
saw  between  stirrups  in  a  frame  or  "gate,"  the  pitman  being  at- 
tached to  the  latter.  As  the  turbine  was  then  unknown,  water 
power  was  obtained  from  a  single  overshot  water-wheel. 

Many  of  the  first  sawmills  were  built  in  combination  with 
gristmills,  often  under  the  same  roof,  the  power  being  used  to 
drive  them  both  or  singly,  as  needed. 

For  the  next  hundred  years  after  the  founding  of  the  colonies 
at  New  Amsterdam  and  Fort  Orange  (Albany)  the  settlement 
of  the  state  was  confined  to  the  region  of  the  Hudson  and  Mo- 
hawk valleys.  The  development  of  the  country  and  growth^  of 
the  lumber  industry  were  slow  compared  to  the  progress  which 


OLD  FASHIONED  SAWMILL,  NEW  YORK  STATE 


10 


LOG-DRIVERS  WAITING  FOR  A  HEAD  OF  WATER 


succeeded  the  Revolution.  There  being  no  means  of  transporta- 
tion except  in  the  river  districts,  the  lumbermen,  after  supplying 
local  demands,  had  to  depend  on  the  export  business,  which  was 
confined  largely  to  the  English  trade.  There  was  a  market  for 
large  white  pine  masts  and  ship-timber,  which  gave  employment 
to  axmen  and  raftsmen  to  some  extent.  But  even  at  the  close 
of  the  Revolution  four-fifths  of  the  state  was  still  an  unbroken 
wilderness,  and  where  the  large  and  populous  city  of  Rochester 
now  stands  there  was  not  a  house  or  a  white  man  to  be  seen  one 
hundred  and  twenty  years  ago.  Except  in  the  Hudson  and  Mo- 
hawk counties,  settlements  and  lumbering  operations  were  not 
commenced  earlier  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  while 
thruout  a  very  large  area  nothing  was  attempted  until  a  much 
later  date.  But  it  is  interesting  to  notice,  as  at  New  Amster- 
dam, how  soon  the  sawmill  followed  the  first  cabin,  how  quickly 
the  lumber  industry  began  in  each  pioneer  settlement,  and  how 
closely  it  was  associated  with  the  development  of  the  country. 

Primitive  Methods. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  last  century  there  was  a  lack  of  the 
tools  and  labor-saving  appliances  which  are  today  considered 
indispensable  in  the  lumber  industry.  Even  the  axe  of  the  chop- 
per was  homemade — a  single  bit  with  a  curved  hickory  handle, 
the  rude  handiwork  of  the  nearest  blacksmith ;  for  the  axe  fac- 
tories were  yet  to  come,  and  the  double-bitted  axe  had  not  been 


11 


invented.  Crosscut  saws,  which  had  to  be  imported  from  Eng- 
land, were  scarce  and  costly ;  hence  the  tree  trunks  were  made 
into  logs  by  chopping  instead  of  sawing.  The  millwrights  were 
not  much  better  of£  for  tools.  The  first  mill  in  Rensselaer  County 
was  built  in  1792  by  a  man  named  Cross  who  "had  no  tools  but 
an  axe,  saw  and  auger." 

Skidways  were  rarely  made,  except  where  a  stock  of  logs 
was  left  lying  in  the  woods,  the  logs  being  usually  hauled  direct 
to  the  mill.  Oxen  were  used  for  the  most  part  in  logging,  the 
same  teams  being  employed  on  farm  work  part  of  the  year;  for 
the  lumberman  was  also  a  farmer. 

There  was  no  river  driving  then.  The  great  White  Pines 
stood  close  around  the  mill  itself,  and  so  thickly  that  the  logs 
were  quickly  and  easily  "snaked"  there.  The  old-fashioned  saw- 
mill did  not  require  much  timber  to  stock  it;  hence  several  years 
would  elapse  before  the  haul  became  too  long  to  be  profitable. 
Then  the  lumberman  would  move  his  mill  into  another  tract  of 
timber  and  resume  logging.  It  was  not  until  years  later  that 
the  lumbermen  conceived  the  plan  of  driving  the  logs  to  the 
mill  instead  of  moving  the  mill  to  the  logs,  and  so  started  the 
practice  of  river  driving. 

Rafting. 

The  local  market  of  each  mill  was  limited  to  the  distance 
which  the  sawed  lumber  could  be  transported  on  wagons  over 
soft,  newly  built  roads;  no  canals  or  railroads  extended  their 
limits.  The  greater  outside  market  could  be  reached  only  by 
rafting  the  product  and  floating  it  down  to  the  towns  and  cities, 
which  were  always  located  on  some  waterway.  For  this  reason 
the  mills  were  located  on  the  upper  waters  of  creeks  or  rivers, 
which  furnished  at  the  same  time  water  power  and  an  outlet  to 
market.  Every  lumberman  was  a  raftsman  as  well  as  a  logger 
and  a  mill-owner. 

Log-Driving. 

The  beginning  of  log-driving  was  co-incident  with  the  sud- 
den increase  in  the  development  of  the  country  in  the  early  part 
of  last  century.  Former  primitive  methods  of  hauling  logs  from 
forest  to  mill  were  no  longer  adequate  to  supply  the  increasing 
demand.  The  haul  had  become  too  long  to  be  profitable,  and 
there  were  no  canals  or  railroads  in  those  days.  It  became  nec- 
essary for  the  manufacturers  either  to  move  their  sawmills  up 
stream  or  to  flood  their  logs  down  to  the  mills.  Log-driving  on 
the  upper  Hudson  began  about  1813.  One  of  the  first  drives 
was  from  the  Brant  Lake  Tract  to  the  mills  at  Glen  Falls.  Others 
soon  followed,  and  in  a  few  years  log-drivers  were  at  work  on 
every  large  river  in  the  state. 


12 


CHAPTER  3. 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  LUMBER  INDUSTRY. 


Logging. 


P  TO  the  beginning  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,  science  and 


invention  had  made  slow  progress  in  the  lumber  industry. 


The  methods  and  tools  employed  had  changed  but  little  from 
those  used  for  centuries  in  Europe.  The  same  was  true  of  all  other 
industries.  About  this  time  occurred  one  of  the  most  important 
events  in  human  history ;  an  event  of  tremendous  and  far-reaching 
consequences,  which  has  revolutionized  industry  in  all  countries: 
The  invention  of  the  steam  engine. 

In  1782  James  Watt  patented  the  double-acting  steam  engine 
in  England. 

In  1804,  in  Wales,  the  first  locomotive  ever  run  on  rails  was 
built  by  Richard  Trevithich. 

The  same  year  Col.  John  Stevens  constructed  a  boat  on  the 
Hudson,  driven  by  a  Watt  engine  and  having  a  tubular  boiler  of 
his  own  invention  and  a  twin  screw  propeller. 

The  same  year  Oliver  Evans  used  a  steam  paddle-wheel  boat 
on  the  Delaware  and  Schuylkill  Rivers. 

In  1807  Robert  Fulton  built  the  "Clermont''  and  permanently 
established  steam  navigation  on  the  Hudson  River  between  New 
York  and  Albany. 

In  1811  the  "Orleans,''  of  one  hundred  tons,  the  first  steam- 
boat on  the  Mississippi,  was  built  at  Pittsburgh  by  Fulton  and 
Livingston.  She  had  a  stern  wheel  and  went  from  Pittsburgh  to 
New  Orleans  in  fourteen  days. 

By  1830  there  were  eighty-six  steamers  on  the  Hudson  River 
and  Long  Island  Sound,  in  addition  to  a  large  number  on  the 
Great  Lakes  and  in  the  Western  waters. 

The  first  steamboat  to  cross  the  Atlantic  was  the  American 
steamer  "Savannah,"  three  hundred  and  eighty  tons,  in  1819. 

In  1826  the  first  railroad  in  the  United  States  was  built  near 
Quincy,  Mass. 

It  was  inevitable  that  all  these  events  should  have  a  tre- 
mendous influence  on  the  lumber  industry.  By  aiding  in  the 
development  of  the  country  they  caused  an  increased  demand 
for  lumber.  By  demonstrating  the  practicability  of  steam  as  a 
motive  power  they  hastened  its  application  in  the  lumber  in- 
dustry. 

Soon  after  the  invention  of  the  steam  engine,  steam  began 
to  come  into  general  use  as  a  motive  power.  In  the  sawmills  it 
gradually  displaced  wind  power  and,  to  a  great  extent,  water 


13 


CLYDE  FOUR-SIDE  SKID 


power.  But  it  was  not  until  long  afterwards  that  it  came  into 
use  in  logging  or  even,  to  any  great  extent,  in  transporting  logs 
from  forest  to  mill.  In  the  Eastern  States,  at  that  time  the  prin- 
cipal field  of  logging  operations,  most  of  the  forests  were  within 
reasonable  distance  of  creeks  and  rivers.  The  cold  winters  and 
heavy  snow-fall  furnished  good  sleigh  roads  over  which  the  logs 
were  hauled  to  the  streams,  to  be  driven  to  the  mills  during  the 
spring  freshets.  In  the  early  days  of  logging  in  the  Lake  States, 
methods  were  practically  the  same.  Creeks  and  rivers  carried 
the  logs  from  forest  to  mill.  But  with  the  logging  off  of  the 
timber  nearest  the  streams  the  lengthening  of  the  sleigh  haul, 
and  the  increasing  demand  for  lumber  caused  by  the  rapid  de- 
velopment of  the  country,  other  and  more  efficient  means  of 
transportation  became  necessary.  The  building  of  the  railroads 
supplied  this  need. 

The  Pacific  Railway,  the  first  of  the  half  dozen  transconti- 
nental railroads,  was  completed  in  1869,  and  by  that  time  the 
Eastern  States  were  fairly  well  gridironed  with  railroads. 

The  successful  use  of  steel-rail  logging  roads  began  in  1876, 
when  Scott  Gerrish,  a  logger  in  Southern  Michigan,  built  a  rail- 
road for  transporting  logs  from  Lake  George  to  the  Muskegon 
River,  down  which  they  were  driven  to  the  mill.  The  number 
of  logging  roads  increased  rapidly,  and  in  1881  there  were  sev- 
enty-one in  operation  in  Michigan,  and  five  in  Wisconsin.  In  1910 
there  were  approximately  two  thousand  logging  railroads  with 
about  30,000  miles  of  track  in  operation  in  the  United  States. 

The  logging  railroad  was  a  great  advance  over  previous 
methods.  Altho  transporting  logs  by  rail  cost  more  than  by 
water,  it  was  far  more  reliable.  It  was  not  dependent  on  weather 
conditions,  and  it  enabled  many  mills  to  run  all  the  year  around, 
instead  of  being  shut  down  half  the  year  for  want  of  logs.  Much 


14 


timber  that  could  not  be  profitably  logged  by  the  old  methods, 
being  too  far  from  a  drivable  stream,  was  now  made  easily  ac- 
cessible. 

Further  application  of  steam  power  to  logging  soon  followed 
the  logging  railroad.  One  of  the  most  successful  power  loaders 
was  put  on  the  market  in  1885,  and  since  that  time  many  forms 
have  been  brought  out  which  differ  in  the  manner  of  locomotion, 
character  of  booms  and  other  details,  to  meet  special  require- 
ments. 

Steam  skidding  was  introduced  about  the  same  time  as  steam 
loading.  The  first  patent  on  power  skidding  machinery  in  the 
United  States  was  granted  on  November  13,  1883,  to  Horace 
Butters  of  Ludington,  Michigan,  and  covered  an  overhead  cable- 
Way  designed  to  get  logs  out  of  "pot-holes"  and  swampy  places 
in  the  white  pine  forests.  Perceiving  the  possibility  of  using  a 
machine  of  this  type  in  the  cypress  forests  of  North  Carolina, 
the  inventor  built  some  machines  which  were  mounted  on  scows 
and  floated  in  the  bayous  and  sloughs.  They  did  not  completely 
solve  the  loggers'  problem,  as  they  were  limited  in  range  from 
seven  hundred  to  eight  hundred  feet,  and  consequently  could 
reach  only  a  small  part  of  the  timber.  1889  William 

Baptist  put  a 
ground  system  in 
operation  in  a  Lou- 
isiana swamp.  It 
consisted  of  two 
large  drums  and  an 
engine  and  boiler 
mounted  on  a  scow 
from  which  an  end- 
less cable  passed 
out  into  the  forest 
for  a  distance  of 
one-half  mile.  This 
later  developed  in- 
to the  modern 
"slack  rope"  sys- 
tem now  used  on 
pull  boats. 

A  third  method, 
called  the  "snaking 
system,''  was  a  la- 
ter development  in 
the  pine  forests  of 
the  South. 

Since  that  time 
many  improve- 
ments have  been 
made  and  many 
new  devices  adopt- 
ed in  power  skid- 
ding. 

15 


THE  LOG-CHUTE 


In  the  Eastern  States  most  of  the  timber  is  now  cut  out,  and 
four-fifths  of  the  timber  of  the  Lake  States  is  gone.  In  these 
regions  practically  all  the  skidding  is  done  by  horse  power,  and 
for  obvious  reasons,  it  is  not  likely  that  steam  skidding  will  ever 
be  introduced  to  any  great  extent. 

The  great  bulk  of  the  logging  in  this  country  is  now  carried 
on  in  the  South,  the  Rocky  Mountain  and  the  Pacific  Coast 
States. 

In  the  South  the  logging  railroad  is  in  general  use,  the  rivers 
in  that  part  of  the  country  not  being  suitable  for  log-driving. 
In  some  places  the  skidding  is  done  by  horses,  mules  or  oxen,  in 
others  by  steam.  Most  of  the  loading  is  done  by  steam. 

In  the  Rocky  Mountain  Region  and  in  the  Cascades  there  are 
still  a  few  river  drives,  but  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  logging 
is  done  by  railroad.  Skidding  is  done  both  by  horse  and  steam 
power.   Practically  all  loading  is  done  by  steam. 

In  some  places,  principally  in  the  South,  specially  construct- 
ed wagons  are  used  for  hauling  logs.  The  pole  road  and  the 
stringer  road  are  still  in  use  in  a  few  localities,  but  they  are  not 
common,  for  they  cannot  compete  with  the  steam  logging  road 
in  efficiency.  In  mountainous  sections  the  log-chute  is  in  com- 
mon use.  In  some  parts  of  the  West  logs  are  transported  by 
flume.  In  some  parts  of  the  Louisiana  swamps  logs  are  made 
into  rafts  and  floated  out  during  the  wet  season.  For  falling 
trees  and  cutting  logs  the  axe  is  no  longer  used  except  for  under- 
cutting.  This  work  is  now  done  with  cross-cut  saws. 

In  the  Pacific  Coast  States,  where  the  timber  grows  to  a  great 
size,  power  logging  has  reached  its  highest  development  and,  in 
large  operations,  is  used  exclusively.  It  has  entirely  replaced 
the  picturesque,  many-yoked  ox-teams  of  earlier  days.  The  size 
and  power  of  the  donkey-engines  used  in  moving  the  logs  are 
being  gradually  increased.  The  latest  improvements  on  a  large 
scale  are  the  overhead  cableway  and  high  lead.  Many  different 
systems  and  devices  are  used  for  skidding  and  loading.  Among 
the  most  efficient  of  these  is' the  Duplex  loading  donkey. 

Big  timber  logging  is  highly  specialized  thruout.  The  prin- 
cipal species  in  Oregon  and  Washington  is  the  Douglas  fir,  and 
in  California  the  redwood,  some  specimens  of  which  are  the 
largest  trees  in  the  world.  About  one-half  of  the  entire  remain- 
ing timber  of  the  country  is  in  these  three  States.  On  account 
of  the  size  of  the  timber  and  the  outlook  for  the  future,  the  new 
science  of  logging  engineering  is  being  more  rapidly  developed 
on  the  Pacific  Coast  than  in  any  other  section  of  the  United 
States.  In  this  section  the  logs  are  cut  the  full  length  of  a  flat- 
car,  on  account  of  which  it  is  known  as  the  long  log  country. 

The  Sawmill. 

In  the  sawmill  even  greater  changes  have  taken  place  than 
in  logging.  The  saw  has  been  the  great  pioneer  in  wood-work- 
ing machinery.   It  is  said  this  tool  was  first  invented  by  an  an- 


16 


SWINGING-BOOM  McGIFFERT  LOADER 


cient  Greek.  Having  found  the  jaw-bone  of  a  snake,  he  em- 
ployed it  to  cut  thru  a  small  piece  of  wood.  By  this  means  he 
was  induced  to  form  a  like  instrument  of  iron,  that  is,  to  make 
a  saw.  The  circular  saw  was  the  type  most  commonly  used  in 
the  Nineteenth  Century.  It  was  invented  by  an  Englishman 
named  Miller  in  1777.  It  was  not  until  the  Nineteenth  Century, 
however,  that  it  was  generally  applied,  and  its  great  work  be- 
longs to  that  period.  The  first  insertable  teeth  for  this  saw  were 
invented  by  W.  Kendal,  an  American,  in  1826. 

The  first  type  of  saw  to  which  mechanical  power  was  ap- 
plied was  the  old-fashioned  "gate  saw",  also  known  as  the  frame 
or  sash  saw.  The  first  improvement  on  this  was  known  as  the 
"muley"  saw.  To  increase  the  efficiency  of  these  saws  they  were 
arranged  in  gangs  so  as  to  make  a  number  of  cuts  at  one  pass 
of  the  log.  This  style  was  especially  used  in  Europe,  but  on  the 
up  stroke  there  was  no  work  done,  and  hence  half  the  time  was 


17 


lost.  This  and  other  difficulties  led  finally  to  the  adoption  of  the 
circular  type  whose  continuous  cut  and  high  speed  saved  much 
time  and  greatly  increased  the  output. 

Mounted  on  a  portable  frame  this  machine  was  put  to  its 
great  work  upon  the  logs  of  the  American  forests,  and  for  many 
years  this  type  of  sawmill  held  sway.  An  enormous  amount  of 
work  was  done  thru  its  agency.  Among  its  useful  accessories 
were  the  set  works  for  adjusting  the  log-holding  knees  to  the 
position  for  a  new  cut;  log  turners  for  rotating  the  log  to  change 
the  plane  of  the  cut;  and  the  rack  and  pinion  feed  by  which  the 
saw  carriage  was  run  back  and  forth.  Next  came  the  rope  feed, 
by  means  of  which  the  carriage  was  drawn  back  and  forth  by  a 
rope  wrapped  around  a  drum. 

The  greatest  advance  in  sawmills  in  recent  years  has  been 
the  steam  feed,  in  which  a  very  long  steam  cylinder  was  pro- 
vided with  a  piston  whose  long  rod  was  directly  attached  to  the 
saw  carriage,  and  the  latter  moved  back  and  forth  with  the  stroke 
of  the  piston.  This  was  also  known  as  the  shotgun  feed,  from 
the  resemblance  of  the  long  cylinder  to  a  gun  barrel.  It  was  in- 
vented by  De  Witt  C.  Prescott  in  1887.  The  value  of  the  steam 
feed  was  to  increase  the  speed  and  efficiency  of  the  saw  by  ex- 
pediting the  movement  of  its  carriage,  as  many  as  six  boards 
per  minute  being  cut  by  its  aid  from  a  log  of  average  length. 
With  the  modern  development  of  the  art,  the  ease  and  rapidity 
of  steam  action  have  recommended  it  for  use  in  most  all  of  the 
work  of  the  sawmill.  The  direct  application  of  steam  pistons 
working  in  cylinder  has  been  utilized  for  canting,  kicking,  flip- 
ping and  rolling  the  logs,  lifting  the  stack,  taking  away  the 
boards,  etc. 

The  handsaw  is  an  endless  belt  of  steel,  having  teeth  formed 
along  one  edge  and  traveling  continuously  around  an  upper  and 
lower  pulley,  with  its  toothed  edge  presented  to  the  timber  to 
be  cut.  A  form  of  handsaw  is  found  as  early  as  1808,  in  a  Brit- 
ish patent.  In  1834  a  French  patent  for  a  handsaw  was  granted 
to  a  man  named  Etiennot.  The  first  United  States  patent  for  a 
handsaw  was  granted  to  B.  Barker  in  1836.  But  the  bandsaw  did 
not  attain  its  prominence  in  wood-working  machinery  until  the 
last  quarter  of  the  Nineteenth  Century.  That  it  did  not  find  gen- 
eral application  at  an  earlier  period  was  due  to  the  difficulty  of 
securely  and  accurately  joining  the  ends  of  the  band.  For  many 
years  the  only  moderately  successful  handsaws  were  made  in 
France,  but  expert  mechanical  skill  has  so  mastered  the  problem 
that  in  recent  years  the  bandsaw  has  gone  to  the  very  front  in 
woodworking  machinery.  Today  it  is  in  service  in  sizes  from  a 
delicate  filament  used  for  scroll  sawing,  to  an  enormous  steel  belt 
fifty  feet  long,  and  twelve  inches  wide,  traveling  over  pulleys  eight 
feet  in  diameter,  making  five  hundred  revolutions  per  minute 
and  tearing  its  way  thru  logs  much  too  large  for  any  circular 
saw,  at  the  rate  of  nearly  two  miles  a  minute.  A  modern  form 
of  bandsaw  with  teeth  on  both  its  edges  cuts  in  both  directions, 
thus  requiring  no  off-setting  mechanism. 


18 


other  improvements  in  saw- 
mill machinery  are  the  endless 
chain  for  bringing  the  logs  into 
the  mill,  and  mechanical  car- 
riers for  lumber  and  refuse. 
In  addition  to  these  there  are 
the  shingle,  lath,  and  slab  saws 
which,  using  up  inferior  mate- 
rial, reduce  the  amount  of 
waste. 

Sawmill  plants  vary  greatly 
in  size  and  output,  from  the 
portable  plants  with  a  capacity 
of  from  five  thousand  to  ten 
thousand  feet  B.  M.  per  day, 
to  the  immense  stationary 
plants,  characteristic  of  the 
Lake  States,  the  Southern  Pine 
Region,  and  the  Pacific  North- 
west, with  a  capacity  of 
150,000  to  500,000  per  single  shift.  Portable  mills  and  many  of 
the  small  stationary  mills  are  still  equipped  with  circular  saws. 

Planing  Machines. 

While  the  saw  plays  the  initial  part  in  shaping  the  logs  into 
lumber,  it  is  to  the  planing  machine  that  the  refinement  of  wood- 
working is  due.  Its  rapidly  revolving  cutter-head  reduces  the 
uneven  thickness  of  the  lumber  to  an  exact  gauge,  and  simultane- 
ously imparts  the  fine  smooth  surface.  The  planing  machine  is 
organized  in  different  shapes  for  different  uses.  When  the  cut- 
ters are  straight  and  arranged  horizontally,  it  is  a  simple  planer. 
When  the  cutters  are  short  and  arranged  to  work  on  the  edge 
of  the  board,  they  are  known  as  edgers;  when  the  edges  are  cut 
into  tongues  and  grooves,  it  is  called  a  matching  machine ;  and 
when  the  cutters  have  a  curved  ornamental  contour  the  planer 
is  known  as  a  moulding  machine,  and  is  used  for  cutting  the 
ornamental  contour  for  house  trimmings  and  various  ornamental 
uses. 

The  planing  machine  was  one  of  the  many  wood-working  de- 
vices invented  by  General  Bentham.  His  first  machine,  patented 
in  England  in  1791,  was  a  reciprocating  machine,  that  is,  it 
worked  back  and  forth  on  the  boards  to  be  planed.  But  in  1793 
he  patented  the  rotary  form,  along  with  a  great  variety  of  other 
wood-working  machinery. 

Bramah's  planer,  patented  in  England  in  1802,  was  about 
the  first  planing  machine  of  the  Nineteenth  Century.  It  is  known 
as  a  transverse  planer,  the  cutters  being  on  the  lower  surface  of 
a  horizontal  disc,  which  is  fixed  to  a  vertical  revolving  shaft,  and 
overhangs  the  board  passing  beneath  it,  the  cutters  revolving  in 
a  plane  parallel  with  the  upper  surface  of  the  board.  The  plan- 
ing machine  of  Muis,  of  Glasgow,  patented  in  1827,  was  designed 


IMPROVED  BAND  RESAW 


19 


for  making  boards  for  f ooring,  and  presented  a  considerable 
advance  in  the  art. 

With  the  greater  wooded  areas  of  America,  the  rapid  growth 
of  the  young  republic,  and  the  resourceful  spirit  of  its  new  civil- 
ization, the  leading  activities  in  wood-working  machinery  in  the 
second  quarter  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  were  transferred  to 
the  United  States.  A  phenomenal  growth  in  this  art  ensued, 
many  new  inventions  and  improvements  being  made. 

In  modern  planing  machinery  the  climax  of  utility  is  reached 
in  the  so-called  universal  wood-worker.  This  is  the  versatile 
Jack-of-all-work  in  the  planing-mill.  It  planes  flat,  moulded, 
rabbeted,  or  beaded  surface ;  it  saws  with  both  the  rip  and  cross- 
cut action ;  it  cuts  tongues  and  grooves ;  makes  mitres,  chamfers, 
wedges,  mortices  and  tenons,  and  is  the  general  utility  machine 
of  the  shop. 


20 


CHAPTER  4. 


PRIVATE  MONOPOLY  OF  NATURAL  RESOURCES. 

HE  only  thoro  canvass  ever  made  of  the  amount  and  owner- 


ship of  standing  timber  in  the  United  States  was  that  made 


in  1910  by  the  Bureau  of  Corporations,  U.  S.  Department  of 
Commerce  and  Labor.  The  findings  of  this  investigation  are  given 
in  the  report  known  as  "The  Lumber  Industry,  Part  1,  Standing 
Timber."  Some  extracts  from  this  report  follow  and  they  convey 
some  idea  of  the  degree  of  centralized  control  that  exists  in  the 
lumber  industry. 


I  have  the  honor  to  submit  herewith  Part  1  of  a  report  on 
the  Lumber  Industry  of  the  United  States.  This  part  deals  with 
the  amount  and  ownership  of  standing  timber. 

The  foremost  facts  shown  are : 

(1)  The  concentration  of  a  dominating  control  of  our  stand- 
ing timber  in  a  comparatively  few  enormous  holdings,  steadily 
tending  towards  a  central  control  of  the  lumber  industry. 

(2)  Vast  speculative  purchase  and  holding  of  timber  land 
far  in  advance  of  any  use  thereof. 

(3)  An  enormous  increase  in  the  value  of  this  diminishing 
natural  resource,  with  great  profits  to  its  owners.  This  value, 
by  the  very  nature  of  standing  timber,  the  holder  neither  created 
nor  substantially  enhances. 

These  are  the  underlying  facts,  of  tremendous  significance 
to  the  public  welfare.  They  are  primarily  the  results  of  our  pub- 
lic land  policy,  long  continued.  The  laws  that  represent  that 
policy  are  still  largely  operative.  The  past  history  and  present 
status  of  our  standing  timber  drive  home  upon  us  the  imperative 
necessity  of  revising  our  public  policy  for  the  future  manage- 
ment of  all  our  remaining  natural  resources.  That  history  is  here 
outlined. 


Only  40  years  ago,  at  least  three-fourths  of  the  timber  now 
standing  was  (it  is  estimated)  publicly  owned.  Now  about  four- 
fifths  of  it  is  privately  owned.  The  great  bulk  of  it  passed  from 


Letter  of  SubmittaL 

Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor, 
Bureau  of  Corporations, 
Washington,  Feb.  13,  1911. 


From  Government  to  Private  Ownership. 


21 


Government  to  private  hands  thru  (a)  enormous  railroad,  canal 
and  wagon  road  grants  by  the  Federal  Government;  (b)  direct 
Government  sales  in  unlimited  quantities  at  $1.25  an  acre;  (c) 
certain  public-land  laws,  great  tracts  being  assembled  in  spite 
of  the  legal  requirements  for  small  holdings.  Such  laws  were 
wholly  inappropriate  to  forest  regions ;  but,  tho  vigorously  con- 
demned in  several  public  reports,  they  are  still  largely  in  force. 
In  theory,  they  were  intended  to  distribute  the  public  lands  in 
small  tracts  as  homes  for  free-holders.  In  fact,  they  actually 
furthered  timber  concentration  in  vast  holdings.  The  1,802 
largest  holders  of  timber  now  own  88,579,000  acres  of  land,  as 
compared  with  a  vastly  wider  distribution  of  public  lands  in  non- 
timbered  agricultural  sections. 

During  this  interval,  and  chiefly  in  the  latter  half  thereof, 
the  value  of  standing  timber  has  increased  ten-fold,  twenty-fold, 
and  even  fifty-fold,  according  to  local  conditions.  The  present 
annual  growth  is  only  about  one-third  of  the  present  annual  cut. 
Replacement  by  new  growth  is  very  slow. 

Examples  of  the  increase  during  this  interval  are :  From  $5 
to  $30  an  acre,  $7  to  $40,  $20  to  $150,  $1  to  $13,  $4  to  $140,  $1 
to  $50.  Specific  tracts  have  been  sold  first  for  $24,000  and  later 
for  $153,000;  $10,000  and  later  $124,000;  $240,000  and  later 
$2,500,000;  $23,000  and  later  $500,000;  $19,000  and  later  $1,- 
125,000.  These  examples  illustrate  the  remarkable  profit  made 
by  certain  individual  holders. 

What  did  the  Government  get  for  the  timber?  Of  the  South- 
ern timber  land  sold  for  $1.25  an  acre,  much  is  now  worth  $60 
an  acre.  Large  amounts  of  Douglas  fir  in  Western  Washington 
and  Oregon,  which  the  Government  gave  away,  or  sold  at  $2.50 
an  acre,  now  range  from  $100  to  $200  an  acre.  The  great  red- 
wood belt  in  California  was  alienated  on  similar  terms,  and  some 
of  it  is  now  worth  hundreds  of  dollars  an  acre.  Practically  none 
of  the  great  forests  in  the  public  land  States  was  sold  by  the 
Government  for  more  than  $2.50  an  acre.  The  great  increase 
in  value  gives  grave  importance  to  the  concentration  of  owner- 
ship. 

The  former  Chief  of  Field  Service  of  the  General  Land  Office, 
H.  H.  Schwartz,  stated  officially  (1909)  that  the  Timber  and 
Stone  Act  .  .  .  has  resulted  in  the  sale  of  over  12,000,000  acres 
of  valuable  timber  lands,  of  which  fully  10,000,000  were  trans- 
ferred to  corporate  or  individual  timber-land  investors  by  the 
entrymen.  These  lands  brought  to  the  people  or  General  Govern- 
ment a  gross  sum  of  $30,000,000.  At  the  date  of  sale  they  were 
reasonably  worth  $240,000,000.  The  profit  of  over  $200,000,000 
went  not  to  the  needy  settler  engaged  in  subduing  the  wilder- 
ness, but  to  the  wealthy  investors.  Not  over  a  fractional  part  of 
1  per  cent  of  the  timber  purchased  from  the  United  States  under 
this  act  is  held,  consumed,  or  even  cut  by  the  men  and  women 
who  made  the  entries. 

An  effective  illustration  of  what  has  happened  under  our 
land  laws  appears  in  the  report  of  the  United  States  Forester 
for  1910: 


22 


An  investigation  emphasizes  the  probability  that  heavily 
timbered  lands,  if  opened  to  entry,  would  pass  into  the 
hands  of  large  owners  of  timber.  Of  705,000  acres  elimi- 
nated from  the  Olympic  National  Forest  in  1900  and  1901 
on  the  ground  that  the  land  was  chiefly  valuable  for  agri- 
culture, and  that  the  settlement  of  the  country  was  being 
retarded,  523,720  acres  passed  ultimately  into  the  hands 
of  owners  who  are  holding  it  purely  as  a  timber  speculation. 
Three  companies  and  two  individuals  own  over  178,000  acres 
in  holdings  of  from  15,000  to  over  80,000  acres  each.  Of 
timbered  homestead  claims  on  this  eliminated  area,  held 
by  100  settlers,  the  total  area  under  actual  cultivation  is 
only  570  acres,  an  average  of  but  5.7  acres  to  each  claim. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  original  purpose  of  the  elimination 
was  defeated,  and  that  bona  fide  settlement  was  not  materi- 
ally advanced. 

Control  of  the  Timber  Controls  the  Whole  Industry. 

Whatever  power  over  prices  may  arise  from  combinations  in 
manufacture  and  distribution  (as  distinguished  from  timber  own- 
ing), such  power  is  insignificant  and  transitory  compared  to  the 
control  of  the  standing  timber  itself  or  a  dominating  part  thereof. 
The  Senate  and  House  resolutions,  to  which  this  investigation  is 
responsive,  ask  for  the  causes  of  high  prices  of  lumber  and  the 
effect  of  combination  upon  such  prices.  The  resolutions,  there- 
fore, required  determination  of  both  the  amount  and  the  control 
of  standing  timber. 

Amount  of  Standing  Timber. 

There  is  now  left  in  continental  United  States  about  2,200 
billion  board  feet  of  privately  owned  standing  timber,  of  which 
1,747  billion  is  in  the  "investigation  area"  covered  in  great  de- 
tail by  the  Bureau.  This  area  includes  the  Pacific-Northwest,  the 
Southern  Pine  Region,  and  the  Lake  States,  and  contains  80  per 
cent  of  all  the  private  timber  in  the  country.  In  addition  there 
are  about  539  billion  feet  in  the  national  forests  and  about  90 
billion  feet  in  other  non-private  lands.  Thus  the  total  amount 
of  standing  timber  in  continental  United  States  is  about  2,800 
billion  board  feet.  The  present  annual  drain  upon  the  supply 
of  saw  timber  is  about  50  billion  feet.  At  this  rate  the  timber 
now  standing,  without  allowance  for  growth  or  decay,  would  last 
only  about  55  years. 

The  present  commercial  value  of  the  privately  owned  stand- 
ing timber  in  the  country,  not  including  the  value  of  the  land,  is 
estimated  (tho  such  an  estimate  must  be  very  rough)  as  at  least 
$6,000,000,000.  Ultimately  the  consuming  public  will  have  to 
pay  such  prices  for  lumber  as  will  give  this  timber  a  far  greater 
value. 

This  is  the  first  comprehensive  and  methodical  investigation 
of  the  amount  and  ownership  of  our  standing  timber.  It  rests  on 
the  best  information  obtainable  from  records  of  timber  owners 


§3 


or  the  knowledge  of  men  in  the  industry,  information  which 
daily  forms  the  basis  of  actual  business  dealings.  (A  physical 
canvass  of  the  forests  was  out  of  the  question.)  The  data,  col- 
lected by  field  work  in  about  900  counties,  assembled,  mapped, 
checked,  and  weighed  in  the  office,  are  reliable  within  a  rela- 
tively small  margin  of  error.  All  figures  relate  to  merchantable 
saw  timber,  in  terms  of  lumber  yield.  The  unit  "board  foot"  is 
a  foot  square  and  an  inch  thick. 

Concentration  of  Timber  Ownership. 

Three  vast  holdings  alone,  the  greatest  in  the  country,  those 
of  the  Southern  Pacific  Company,  the  Weyerhaeuser  Timber  Com- 
pany, and  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway  Company  (including 
their  subsidiary  companies),  together  have  238  billion  feet,  or 
nearly  11  per  cent  of  all  our  privately  owned  timber.  They  have 
14  per  cent  of  that  in  the  "investigation  area.''  With  the  five 
next  largest,  they  have  over  15  per  cent  of  the  total  privately 
owned  timber  and  over  19  per  cent  of  that  within  the  investiga- 
tion area.  Finally,  nearly  one-half  (48  per  cent)  of  the  private 
timber  in  that  area  is  held  by  only  195  great  holders.  The  term 
"holder"  covers  any  single  interest — individual,  corporate,  or 
group — which  is  so  united  as  to  be  under  one  control. 

The  Pacific-Northwest. — Five-elevenths  of  the  country's  pri- 
vately owned  standing  timber  is  in  the  Pacific-Northwest  (Cali- 
fornia, Oregon,  Washington,  Idaho  and  Montana),  1,013  billion 
feet.  One-half  of  this  is  now  owned  by  37  holders;  many  of 
these  are  closely  connected.  The  three  largest  holders  (named 
above)  alone  have  nearly  one-quarter.  This  section  now  fur- 
nishes only  one-sixth  of  the  annual  cut.  Thus  its  timber  is  being 
largely  held  for  the  future,  and  the  large  owners  there  will  then 
be  the  dominating  influence  in  the  industry. 

The  Southern  Pacific  Company  holding  is  the  greatest  in  the 
United  States — 106  billion  feet.  This  is  about  6  per  cent  of  the 
private  timber  in  the  investigation  area,  and  10  per  cent  of  that 
in  the  Pacific-Northwest.  It  is  difiicult  to  give  an  adequate  idea 
of  its  immensity.  It  stretches  practically  680  miles  along  that 
railroad  between  Portland  and  Sacramento.  The  fastest  train 
over  this  distance  takes  31  hours.  During  all  that  time  the  trav- 
eler thereon  is  passing  thru  lands  a  large  proportion  of  which 
for  30  miles  on  each  side  belongs  to  the  railroad,  and  in  almost 
the  entire  strip  this  corporation  is  the  dominating  owner  of  both 
timber  and  land. 

The  second  largest  holder  is  the  Weyerhaeuser  Timber  Com- 
pany (including  its  subsidiary  companies),  with  96  billion  feet. 
This  does  not  include  further  very  extensive  timber  interests  of 
the  Weyerhaeuser  family  and  close  associates. 

These  two  holdings  would  supply  the  46,584  sawmills  in  the 
country  for  four  and  two-thirds  years.  They  have  one-eleventh 
of  our  total  private  timber. 


24 


The  third  largest,  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway  Company, 

has  36  billion  feet. 

These  three  holdings  have  enough  standing  timber  to  build 
an  ordinary  5  or  6  room  frame  house  for  each  of  the  16,000,000 
families  in  the  United  States  in  1900.  If  sawed  into  lumber  and 
placed  in  cars,  their  timber  would  load  a  train  100,000  miles 
long. 

The  holdings  of  the  two  railroad  companies  are  government 
grants,  and  80  per  cent  of  the  Weyerhaeuser  Timber  Company 
holding  was  bought  from  the  Northern  Pacific  grant.  Many 
other  large  holdings  (here  and  in  other  regions)  were  mainly 
purchased  from  some  land  grant. 

Southern  Pine  Region. — In  the  Southern  Pine  Region  there 
are  634  billion  feet  of  privately  owned  timber.  Concentration 
in  total  timber  is  much  less  than  in  the  Pacific-Northwest.  There 
is,  however,  a  high  concentration  in  the  more  valuable  species, 
longleaf  yellow  pine  and  cypress.  Sixty-seven  holders  own  39 
per  cent  of  the  longleaf  yellow  pine,  29  per  cent  of  the  cypress, 
19  per  cent  of  the  shortleaf  and  loblolly  pine,  and  11  per  cent  of 
the  hardwoods. 

The  Lake  States. — In  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  and  Michigan 
there  are  100  billion  feet  of  privately  owned  timber.  In  Wiscon- 
sin 96  holders  have  three-fourths  of  all  the  timber.  In  Michigan 
113  holders  have  66  per  cent.  In  Minnesota  6  holders  have  54 
per  cent  of  the  very  valuable  white  and  Norway  pine,  16  per 
cent  of  the  other  conifers,  and  2  per  cent  of  the  hardwoods. 
Taking  all  three  states,  215  holders  have  65  per  cent  of  all  the 
timber. 

Effect  of  Concentration. — Such  concentration  in  standing  tim- 
ber, if  permitted  to  continue  and  increase,  makes  probable  a  final 
central  control  of  the  whole  lumber  industry.  A  few  strong  4n- 
terests,  ultimately  holding  the  bulk  of  the  timber,  can  set  the 
price  of  timber  and  its  products.  The  manager  of  the  National 
Lumber  Manufacturers'  Association  recently  said  to  lumbermen 
on  the  Pacific  coast: 

The  day  of  cheap  lumber  is  passing  and  soon  will  be 
gone,  but  the  men  who  make  the  money  will  be  those  who 
own  timber  and  can  hold  it  until  the  supply  in  other  parts 
of  the  country  is  gone.  Then  they  can  ask  and  get  their  own 
price. 

Certain  further  factors,  not  exactly  measurable,  increase  still 
more  the  real  concentration.  First,  a  further  interweaving  of  in- 
terests, corporate  and  personal,  connects  a  great  many  holdings 
which  the  Bureau  has  treated  as  separate ;  second,  there  are  very 
large  totals  of  timber  so  scattered  in  small  tracts  thru  larger 
holdings  that  they  are  substantially  "blocked  in"  or  "controlled" 
by  the  larger  holders ;  third,  the  concentration  is  much  higher  in 
the  more  valuable  species. 


25 


General  information  obtained  indicates  a  very  high  concen- 
tration in  timber  ownership  outside  the  investigation  area. 

Policy  of  Great  Holders. — The  largest  holders  are  cutting 
little  of  their  timber.  They  thus  reserve  to  themselves  those  in- 
calculable profits  which  are  still  to  accrue  with  the  growth  of 
the  country,  the  diminishing  of  timber  supply,  and  the  further 
concentration  and  control  thereof.  Many  of  the  very  men  who 
are  protesting  against  conservation  and  the  national  forest  system 
because  of  the  "tying  up''  of  natural  resources,  are  themselves 
deliberately  tying  them  up  far  more  effectively  for  private  gain. 

The  fact  that  mature  timber  is  thus  withheld  from  use,  is 
clear  evidence  that  great  additional  profits  are  expected  to  ac- 
crue thru  further  increase  in  value. 

Land  Monopoly. — Standing  timber  is  not  the  only  question. 
When  the  timber  has  been  cut  the  land  remains.  There  has  been 
created,  therefore,  not  only  the  frame  work  of  an  enormous  tim- 
ber monopoly,  but  also  an  equally  sinister  land  concentration 
in  extensive  sections.  This  involves  also  a  great  wealth  in  min- 
erals. The  Southern  Pacific  has  4,318,000  acres  in  northern  Cali- 
fornia and  western  Oregon,  and,  with  the  Union  Pacific,  which 
controls  it,  millions  of  acres  elsewhere.  (The  Government,  how- 
ever, is  now  suing  to  annul  the  title  to  the  Southern  Pacific  lands 
in  Oregon  for  non-compliance  with  the  terms  of  the  original 
grants.)  The  Northern  Pacific  owns  3,017,000  acres  of  timber 
land  and  millions  more  of  non-timbered  land.  The  Weyerhaeuser 
Timber  Company  owns  1,945,000  acres.  In  Florida  five  holders 
have  4,600,000  acres,  and  the  187  largest  timber  holders  have 
over  15,800,000  acres,  nearly  one-half  of  the  land  area  of  the 
State.  In  the  whole  investigation  area  the  1802  largest  holders 
of  timber  have  together  88,579,000  acres  (not  including  Northern 
Pacific  and  Southern  Pacific  lands  in  non-timbered  regions) ; 
which  would  make  an  average  holding  of  49,000  acres  or  77 
square  miles. 

Finally,  to  timber  concentration  and  to  land  concentration  is 
added,  in  our  most  important  timber  section,  a  closely  connected 
railroad  domination.  The  formidable  possibilities  of  this  combi- 
nation in  the  Pacific-Northwest  and  elsewhere  are  of  the  greatest 
public  importance. 

The  Future. — These  are  the  facts  of  the  lumber  business  in 
its  most  important  feature,  the  natural  supply.  The  paramount 
consideration  remains  still  to  be  stated.  There  are  many  great 
combinations  in  other  industries,  whose  formation  is  complete. 
In  the  lumber  industry,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Bureau  finds  now 
in  the  making  a  combination  caused,  fundamentally,  by  a  long- 
standing public  policy.  The  concentration  already  existing  is 
sufficiently  impressive.  Still  more  impressive  are  the  possibili- 
ties for  the  future.  In  the  last  40  years  concentration  has  so  pro- 
ceeded that  195  holders,  many  interrelated,  now  have  practically 
one-half  of  the  privately  owned  timber  in  the  investigation  area 
(which  contains  80  per  cent  of  the  whole).    This  formidable 


26 


process  of  concentration,  in  timber  and  in  land,  certainly  involves 
grave  future  possibilities  of  impregnable  monopolistic  conditions, 
whose  far-reaching  consequences  to  society  it  is  now  difficult  to 
anticipate  fully,  or  to  overestimate. 

Such  are  the  past  history,  present  status,  and  apparent  future 
of  our  timber  resources.  The  underlying  cause  is  our  public-land 
policy,  resulting  in  enormous  loss  of  wealth  to  the  public,  and  its 
monopolization  by  a  few  interests.  It  lies  before  us  now  as  a 
forcible  object  lesson  for  the  future  management  of  all  the  nat- 
ural resources  still  remaining  in  the  hands  of  the  Government. 

Very  respectfully, 
Herbert  Knox  Smith, 

Commissioner  of  Corporations. 

The  President. 

The  "investigation  area''  is  as  follows:  (1)  California,  Ore- 
gon, Washington,  Idaho,  and  Montana.  (2)  The  parts  of  Vir- 
ginia, North  Carolina,  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  east  and 
south  of  the  hardwood  forests  of  the  Appalachian  Mountains; 
Florida,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Texas,  Arkansas,  and 
the  southeast  corner  of  Missouri ;  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Min- 
nesota. For  ease  of  reference  these  three  divisions  are  called  the 
Pacific-Northwest,  the  Southern  Pine  Region,  and  the  Lake 
States,  respectively.  No  canvass  has  ever  been  made  of  the  pri- 
vately owned  timber  in  the  United  States  outside  of  this  area,  but 
it  has  been  roughly  estimated  by  the  Forest  Service  at  450  bil- 
lion feet.  The  Forest  Service  has  also  estimated  the  amount  of 
standing  timber  owned  by  the  Federal  Government  and  by  the 
various  States,  and  that  on  Indian  reservations,  at  639  billion 
feet. 

This  total  of  about  2,800  billion  feet,  it  should  be  repeated, 
is  the  total  merchantable  saw  timber  only ;  that  is,  timber  of  such 
size  and  quality  as  to  be  suitable  for  the  use  of  a  sawmill,  under 
present  conditions  in  the  industry.  It  does  not  include  timber 
suitable  only  for  posts,  small  poles,  and  similar  purposes,  or  fire- 
wood. 

Standing  Timber. 

As  the  "letter  of  submittal''  is  practically  a  summary  of  part 
1  of  the  report,  only  a  few  extracts  of  this  report  need  be  given. 
The  following  cover  the  most  interesting  and  important  points : 

"The  result  of  Bureau's  investigation  in  the  standing  timber 
of  the  United  States  may  therefore  be  summarized  as  follows: 

Billion  Feet. 


Grand  total   2,826 

Privately  owned  timber    2,197 

In  investigation  area   1,747 

Pacific-Norhtwest   1,013 

Southern  Pine  Region   634 

Lake  States    100 


27 


Privately 

National 

All 

Owned. 

Forests. 

Others. 

1,013.0 

440.8 

59.1 

248.1 

114.4 

18.9 

398.1 

135.8 

11.9 

294.6 

81.6 

14.8 

50.4 

71.0 

7.7 

21.8 

38.0 

5.8 

Billion  Feet. 

Outside  of  "investigation  area"   450 

Total  owned  by  Federal  Government  in  National  Forests  *  539 
Total  otherwise  owned  by  Fed.  Gov't,  by  States  and  on 

Indian  reservations  *    90 

Total  Standing  Timber  in  Pacific-Narthwest. 

(In  billions  of  board  feet.    Thus  1512.9  is  1,512,900,000,000.) 

Not  Privately 
Owned,  a 

Privately  Na 

Total. 

Pacific-Northwest   1,512.9 

California   381.4 

Oregon    545.8 

Washington    391.0 

Idaho   129.1 

Montana    65.6 

"The  predominating  species  of  timber  in  the  Pacific-North- 
west is  Douglas  fir,  which  alone  constitutes  52  per  cent  of  the 
total  privately  owned.  Western  pine  constitutes  15  per  cent  and 
redwood  10  per  cent,  the  three  species  together  aggregating  77 
per  cent.  By  far  the  heaviest  stands  occur  on  the  Pacific  slope 
west  of  the  Cascades.  No  other  single  species  contributes  as 
much  as  6  per  cent.  Thus  of  the  1,013  billion  feet  of  privately 
owned  timber  in  the  entire  Pacific-Northwest  867  billion  feet 
(85  per  cent)  is  west  of  the  Cascades  in  Oregon  and  Washing- 
ton, and  in  California,  leaving  only  146  billion  feet  for  the  east- 
ern portion  of  this  region. 

**In  the  Southern  Pine  Region  the  total  of  634  billion  feet  of 
privately  owned  timber  is  distributed  as  follows: 

Billion  Feet.  Billion  Feet 

Louisiana   119.8  Georgia  (part)    46.0 

Mississippi    95.3  N.  Carolina  (part)   42.9 

Arkansas    78.7  S.  Carolina  (part)   30.7 

Florida   73.9  Virginia  (part)   14.5 

Texas    66.0  Missouri  (part)   9.9 

Alabama    56.3 

"The  predominating  species  in  this  Southern  Pine  Eegion  is 
yellow  pine,  which  contributes  384.4  billion  feet  (232.3  billion 
feet  of  longleaf  and  152.1  billion  feet  of  short  leaf  and  loblolly 
to  the  total  of  634  billion  feet;  cypress  40.4  billion  feet;  and  all 
hardwoods  together,  209.2  billion  feet.  The  harwoods  include 
the  least  valuable  timber  in  this  region.) 

"In  the  Lake  States  the  total  of  100  billion  feet  of  privately 
owned  timber  is  distributed  as  follows: 

Billion  Feet. 

Michigan   47.6 

Wisconsin    29.2 

Minnesota   23.2 

"The  Lake  Region  is  the  least  important  of  the  three  in  quan- 
tity of  timber,  but  much  of  its  timber  is  exceedingly  valuable. 

•  Estimates  furnished  by  Forest  Service. 

a.  Includes  national  parks,  military  reservations,  unreserved  public  lands,  Indian  res- 
ervations, and  timberland  owned  by  the  states. 


28 


Definition  of  the  Term  Holder. 

"The  concentration  of  ownership  shown  in  this  report  is  a 
minimum  only.  Thru  the  interweaving  of  interests,  the  inter- 
relations of  the  individuals  and  corporations  holding  title  to  the 
timberland,  there  is  a  concentration  of  control  far  beyond  what 
is  shown  by  the  listing  of  nominal  or  legal  owners. 

"The  following  are  examples  of  the  possibilities  and  limita- 
tions of  such  combining  of  interests.  The  Southern  Pacific  hold- 
ing, as  stated  in  this  report,  is  made  up  of  the  timber  of  the 
Oregon  and  California  Railroad  Company  subsidiaries  of  the 
Southern  Pacific  Company.  Similarly  the  holding  of  the  Weyer- 
haeuser Timber  Company  includes  not  only  the  timber  of  that 
concern,  but  that  of  its  direct  subsidiaries,  the  Clarke  County 
Timber  Company,  the  Weyerhaeuser  Land  Company,  the  Pohe- 
gama  Sugar  Pine  Lumber  Company,  the  Pelton-Reid  Sugar  Pine 
Company,  and  the  Weyerhaeuser  Realty  Company.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Weyerhaeuser  Timber  Company  holding  does  not  em- 
brace the  interest  of  the  Weyerhaeuser  family  or  their  associates 
in  other  extensive  timber  holdings  not  known  to  be  so  controlled 
that  they  will  be  managed  as  a  unit  with  the  holding  of  the 
Weyerhaeuser  Timber  Company  itself.  The  holdings  of  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railway  Company  are  chiefly  held  direct,  a  rela- 
tively small  amount  being  owned  by  a  subsidiary  concern,  the 
Northwestern  Improvement  Company. 

Southern  Pacific  Company  Holding. 

".  .  .  about  71  billion  feet  of  the  Southern  Pacifiers  timber  is 
in  Oregon  and  about  35  billion  feet  is  in  California. 

The  Weyerhaeuser  Timber  Company's  Holding. 

".  .  .  most  of  this  timber — nearly  77  billion  feet — is  in  Wash- 
ington; about  18.7  billion  feet  is  in  Oregon,  and  an  insignificant 
fraction  in  California.   It  is  chiefly  Douglas  fir. 

".  .  .  It  does  not  include  further  very  extensive  timber  inter- 
ests of  members  of  the  Weyerhaeuser  family  and  their  close  as- 
sociates. This  great  holding,  also,  is  nearly  all  being  held  off 
the  market  for  the  future  rise  in  timber  values. 

Northern  Pacific  Holding. 

".  .  .  The  bulk  of  this  timber  is  in  the  State  of  Washington. 

".  .  .  these  three  immense  holdings  were  virtually  made  pos- 
sible by  the  land  grants  of  the  Federal  Government  to  great  rail- 
road corporations. 

"Under  these  grants  enormous  tracts  of  land  were  acquired 
by  some  of  the  leading  transcontinental  railroads.  Thus  there 
had  been  patented  to  the  subsidiaries  of  the  Southern  Pacific 
Company  in  Oregon  and  California,  up  to  June  30,  1910,  no  less 
than  12,178,000  acres  of  land,  not  all  timbered,  of  course — while 
the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  one  subsidiary,  had  se- 


29 


cured  in  the  States  of  Idaho,  Nevada,  and  Utah,  4,878,000.  The 
Union  Pacific,  which  now  controls  the  Southern  Pacific,  has  also 
secured  patent  to  no  less  than  19,136,000  acres  of  land  in  various 
States,  while  there  have  been  patented  to  the  Northern  Pacific 
the  enormous  total  of  32,664,000  acres.  This  is  a  total  acreage 
granted  to  the  Northern  Pacific  and  to  the  several  railroads  now 
in  the  Union  Pacific-Southern  Pacific  system  of  68,856,000,  or 
over  107,000  square  miles,  an  area  nearly  as  large  as  the  land 
area  of  the  six  New  England  States  and  New  York.  Further- 
more, lands  are  still  being  patented  in  large  amounts,  especially 
to  the  Northern  Pacific. 

"It  is  not  to  be  inferred  that  these  railroads  still  own  the 
acreage  noted  above  as  patented  to  them.  In  various  financial 
reports  and  unofficial  manuals,  however,  it  is  stated  that  the 
present  land  holdings  of  these  railroads  are  as  follows:  Union 
Pacific,  975,128  acres;  Southern  Pacific,  14,408,217  acres;  North- 
ern Pacific,  9,949,985  acres.  Within  the  "investigation  area"  of 
the  Bureau,  however,  the  timbered  acreage  of  the  Southern  Pa- 
cific reaches  the  very  large  total  of  3,842,000  acres,  not  includ- 
ing about  130,000  acres  in  Texas  and  Louisiana,  in  which  the 
Southern  Pacific  has  an  interest.  The  unsold  timbered  acreage 
of  the  Northern  Pacific  within  the  investigated  area  is  3,017,000 
acres. 

"Practically  all  the  acreage  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Company 
was  secured  thru  government  land  grants.  The  enormous  hold- 
ing of  the  Weyerhaeuser  Timber  Company,  aggregating  1,945,- 
000  acres,  is  based  on  the  Northern  Pacific  land  grant,  no  less 
than  four-fifths  of  it  having  been  bo.ught  from  the  Northern  Pa- 
cific. In  1900,  a  single  block  of  900,000  acres  was  thus  acquired 
at  $6.00  an  acre.  Further  purchases  from  the  Northern  Pacific 
brought  up  the  total  thus  acquired  to  about  1,530,000.  In  the 
main  purchase  the  Weyerhaeuser  Timber  Company  selected 
the  best  part  of  the  Northern  Pacific's  timber  land  in  western 
Washington. 

"In  addition  to  the  very  extensive  acreage  thus  sold  to  the 
Weyerhaeuser  Timber  Company,  the  Northern  Pacific  has  sold 
a  vast  amount  of  timber  land  to  a  subsidiary  of  the  Amalgamated 
Copper  Company,  and  smaller  yet  important  tracts  to  other  large 
companies,  in  many  of  which  the  Weyerhaeuser  family  and  their 
associates  are  interested. 

"A  report  by  the  Forest  Service,  U.  S.  Department  of  Agri- 
culture, submitted  June  1,  1920,  and  entitled  "Timber  Depletion, 
Lumber  Prices,  Lumber  Exports,  and  Concentration  of  Timber 
Ownership,''  states  that  since  1910,  by  decision  of  the  Federal 
Courts,  the  land  grant  of  2,425,000  to  the  Southern  Pacific  Rail- 
road Company  in  Oregon  has  reverted  to  the  Government.  The 
Weyerhaeuser  Timber  Co.  has  sold  approximately  250,000  acres, 
chiefly  to  operators,  and  has  itself  become  a  large  timber  manu- 
facturer. The  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  Co.  has  sold  522,000 
acres  of  timber  land  in  Washington.  According  to  this  report 
the  situation  as  to  timber  ownership  has  not  changed  materially 
from  that  reported  by  the  Bureau  of  Corporations  in  1910." 


30 


CHAPTER  5. 


HOW  RICH  GRAFTERS  GOT  POSSESSION  OF  THE  TIMBER 
LANDS  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 

OWING  to  lack  of  space  it  is  impossible  to  deal  under  this 
heading  with  more  than  a  few  examples.  The  history  of  the 
crimes  committed  by  big  capitalists  in  getting  possession  of 
the  natural  resources  of  the  country  would  fill  many  volumes.  The 
few  cases  mentioned  are  only  typical  examples  of  the  methods 
by  which  all  the  big  timber  interests  acquired  their  stolen  prop- 
erty. 

Let  Gustavus  Myers  tell  the  story  in  his  "History  of  the  Great 
American  Fortunes" — Vol.  3.  All  the  statements  made  in  this 
work  are  substantiated  by  Government  records.  First  comes  the 
case  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  Company, 

The  Pacific  Quartet. 

"During  the  range  of  years  when  the  Vanderbilts,  Gould, 
Sage  and  Blair  and  various  other  railroad  magnates  were  hurling 
themselves  upward  into  the  realms  of  masterful  wealth,  four 
other  noted  capitalists,  whose  careers  were  inter  joined,  were 
doing  likewise  in  the  Far  West. 

"This  group  was  composed  of  Collis  P.  Huntington,  Leland 
Stanford,  Charles  Crocker  and  Mark  Hopkins. 

"All  four  had  migrated  from  the  East  to  California  after  the 
discovery  of  gold  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  There  Huntington  carried 
on  a  hardware  and  miners'  supply  store  at  Sacramento,  and  Hop- 
kins became  his  partner ;  Crocker  was  likewise  a  small  merchant, 
and  Stanford  was  a  lawyer.  THE  FOUR  were  not  able  to  scrape 
together  a  pool  of  more  than  an  insignificant  sum  with  which  to 
execute  what  was  then  considered  one  of  the  greatest  and  most 
difficult  railroad  projects  of  modern  times. 

"But  neither  was  the  project  itself  of  their  conception,  nor 
did  they  have  to  supply  the  funds.  Years  before  they  took  hold 
of  the  work  as  a  definite  undertaking,  the  building  of  Pacific 
lines  had  been  agitated  and  urged,  and  the  Government  had  sur- 
veyed feasible  routes.  Not  one  of  the  quartet  knew  anything  of 
railroad  construction,  nor  had  the  least  fundamental  knowledge 
of  how  to  equip  and  operate  a  railroad. 

".  .  .  If  a  man  or  a  set  of  men  could  succeed  in  bribing  Con- 
gress and  the  legislatures  to  donate  land  grants  and  advance  the 
funds,  it  was  a  very  simple  matter  to  hire  highly  competent  civil 
engineers  to  survey  and  build  the  routes,  and  employ  good  exec- 
utives to  run  them  after  they  were  built. 


31 


"Upon  organizing  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  Company  in 
1861,  the  Huntington  group  could  not  privately  raise  more  than 
$195,000,  of  which  amount  they  themselves  put  in  about  $50,- 
000.  This  sum,  ridiculously  inadequate  to  build  a  railroad  esti- 
mated to  cost  $25,000,000  was,  however,  enough  and  more  than 
enough  for  certain  well  understood  primary  operations. 

"With  it  expenses  could  be  defrayed  at  the  centers  of  legisla- 
tion; petitions  and  memorials  concocted;  advocates  paid,  and 
newspapers  subsidized.  If  the  trick  were  well  turned,  a  whole 
succession  of  franchises,  special  laws,  land  grants  and  money 
subsidies  would  follow.  Thus  we  see  that  the  original  capital 
needed  in  many  capitalist  enterprises  was  not  for  the  actual 
prosecution  of  the  work,  but  for  the  purpose  of  bribery. 

"A  more  temptingly  opportune  time  for  spoliative  measures 
than  the  period  of  the  Civil  War  could  hardly  have  been  found. 
Engrossed  in  the  tumultuous  upheavals  of  those  convulsive  years, 
the  people  had  neither  the  patience  nor  disposition  to  keep  close 
track  of  routine  enactments  in  Congress  or  in  the  legislatures. 
At  the  very  beginning  of  that  war  the  Huntington  group  organ- 
ized the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  with  a  capital  stock 
of  $8,500,000,  nearly  the  whole  of  which  capital  was  fictitious, 
so  far  as  actual  investment  of  money  was  concerned.  At  once 
they  directed  their  energies  right  to  the  core  of  things.  Hunting- 
ton took  himself  to  Washington  to  lobby  in  Congress,  while  Stan- 
ford, elected  governor  of  California,  busied  himself  with  similar 
ends  at  home.  No  visionaries  were  they,  but  practical  men  who 
knew  how  to  proceed  straightway. 

"Stanford's  work  quickly  bore  fruit  in  California;  the  city 
of  Sacramento  was  authorized  to  donate  $400,000 ;  Placer  County 
to  loan  $550,000,  and  the  State  of  California  to  hand  over  $2,- 
100,000.  At  the  same  time  Huntington  was  doing  surpassing  mis- 
sionary duty  in  Congress.  An  act  was  passed  in  1862  by  which 
about  $25,000,000  in  Government  6-per-cent  bonds  and  about 
4,500,000  acres  of  public  lands  were  placed  at  the  disposal  of 
the  quartet. 

"Two  years  later,  at  the  very  time  when  the  Union  Pacific 
coterie  were  corrupting  Congress  to  get  greater  land  grants  and 
altered  laws,  Huntington  again  debauched  Congress.  An  act  was 
passed  doubling  the  Central  Pacific's  land  grant  and  relegating 
the  government's  claim  on  the  Central  Pacific  to  the  under  posi- 
tion of  a  second  mortgage. 

"The  operations  of  the  quartet  were  simple  enough.  Once 
they  had  obtained  the  requisite  loans  and  gifts,  they  threw  aside 
all  pretenses,  and  openly  and  vigorously  set  out  to  defraud  all 
within  reach,  not  only  the  Federal  Government  but  also  States, 
counties,  cities  and  investors. 

Gross  Corruption  of  Congress. 

"The  process  of  corruption  and  theft  was  continued  in  the 
building  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad. 


32 


"In  1871,  Congress  chartered  the  building  of  the  Texas  & 
Pacific  Railroad  to  run  from  Marshall,  Texas,  to  San  Diego,  Cal., 
and  presented  the  company  with  approximately  18,000,000  acres 
of  public  lands  on  condition  that  the  road  was  to  be  completed  in 
ten  years ;  otherwise  the  land  grant  was  to  be  declared  forfeited. 
At  the  same  time  Congress  chartered  the  Southern  Pacific  Rail- 
road Company  to  build  a  line  from  El  Paso,  Texas,  to  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  gave  it  a  gift  of  about  5,000,000  acres  of  public  lands. 
The  Texas  &  Pacific  project  was  owned  by  a  group  of  capitalists 
headed  by  Scott  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad ;  the  Huntington 
men  were  at  the  head  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Railway  Company. 

"The  'next  thing  the  Huntington  group  did  was  to  force  the 
Eastern  capitalists  out  of  the  Texas  &  Pacific  Railroad,  absorb 
that  line  into  their  own  system,  and  illegally  grab  the  eighteen 
million  acre  land  grant  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific.  Even  under  the 
law  as  it  stood  the  Texas  and  Pacific  was  not  entitled  to  the  land 
grant.  The  House  Committee  on  Judiciary  on  Aug.  3,  1882,  after 
an  inveistigation,  declared  that  the  Texas  &  Pacific  Railroad 
Company  had  never  completed  any  part  of  the  route  for  which 
the  land  in  New  Mexico,  Arizona  and  California  was  given ;  that 
it  had  never  earned  the  grant;  that  it  did  not  purpose  to  build 
the  road  for  which  it  was  chartered  a'nd  endowed,  and  that  it 
was  transferring  to  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  Company  'all 
of  the  rights  and  titles  to  the  land  in  question.'  The  committee 
on  judiciary  prepared  a  resolution  declaring  the  forfeiture  of 
the  land  grant,  and  urged  its  passage  by  Congress  as  a  joint  res- 
olution.   It  did  not  pass. 


A  Summary  of  Their  Plunder  in  gs. 

"Presenting  the  general  results  as  nearly  as  official  investiga- 
tions could  ascertain  them,  this  is  what  Huntington  and  his  as- 
sociates did :  They  had  received  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars 
in  the  form  of  money,  bonds  and  lands  from  Government,  States, 
counties  and  municipalities.  As  controllers  of  the  Contract  and 
Finance  Company  and  other  construction  companies,  they  had 
tur'ned  over  to  themselves  $142,000,000  in  all  for  ostensible  con- 
struction work.  They  had  expended  at  least  five  million  for  cor- 
rupt political  purposes.  They  had  stupendously  watered  the 
stock  of  their  railroads  and  with  cumulative  proceeds  of  their 
thefts  had  secured  control  of  nineteen  disti'nct  railway  systems 
and  of  steamship  lines  also.  They  had  by  fraud  robbed  the  Gov- 
ernment of  many  millions  of  acres  of  land;  they  had  defrauded 
the  Government  of  the  bulk  of  the  funds  that  it  had  advanced ; 
they  refused  to  pay  more  than  the  merest  nominal  taxation,  and 
they  extorted  onerous  rates  for  transportation. 

"In  his  message  to  the  California  Legislature,  in  1869,  Gov- 
ernor H.  H.  Haight  had  this  to  say: 

"  '  Our  land  system  seems  to  be  mainly  formed  to  facili- 
tate the  acquisition  of  large  bodies  of  land  by  capitalists  or  cor- 
porations, either  as  donations  or  at  nominal  prices. 


33 


"  'Numbers  who  purchased  from  the  State  lands  sold  as 
swamp  or  overflowed,  find  their  farms  claimed  under  the  rail- 
road grants,  and  themselves  involved  in  expensive  contests  be- 
fore Kegisters  and  Land  Offices.' 

"Among  the  lands  granted  to  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad 
Company  was  the  imme'nse  stretch  of  the  finest  timber  land  in 
Oregon  and  California,  mentioned  in  the  previous  chapter. 

The  Northern  Pacific  Railroad. 

*'The  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  was  chartered  in  1864.  By 
act  of  Congress  of  July  2nd  of  that  year  it  was  given  the  right  of 
way  thru  the  public  domain,  the  right  to  take  from  the  public 
lands  material  for  construction,  and  a'n  immense  area  of  public 
lands  in  Montana,  Idaho  and  other  sections  of  the  Northwest. 
These  enormous  privileges  and  grants  were  given  to  it  at  the 
identical  time  when  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  a'nd  other  land- 
grant  subsidized  railroads  were  bribing  Congress.  As  we  have 
seen,  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  disbursed  nearly  $436,000  in 
securing  the  passage  of  the  act  of  July  2nd,  1864,  increasing  the 
government  moliey  subsidy  granted  to  it  ,and  doubling  its  land 
grant.  Doubtless  the  passage  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad 
Act  was  effected  by  the  same  means.  In  all,  the  Northern  Pacific 
Railroad  obtained  about  57,000,000  acres  of  the  public  domain. 

"The  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  was,  therefore,  endowed 
with  a  land  grant  forty  miles  wide  running  across  the  continent, 
west  of  the  Missouri  River.  This  land  grant  included  vast 
stretches  of  the  very  richest  timber  lands.'' 

The  following  additional  extracts  from  the  same  book  throw 
some  light  on  the  plundering  of  the  public  domain  by  other  lum- 
ber companies. 

The  Colossal  Thefts  of  Timber. 

**The  huge  fraudulent  operations  in  the  theft  of  timber  from 
the  public  domain  in  Minnesota  and  other  States  and  territories, 
and  the  bribery  of  public  officials  to  connive  at  those  thefts,  were 
another  example  of  the  widespread  and  permeating  fraud. 

"Congress  had  passed  an  explicit  act  prohibiting  depreda- 
tions on  the  public  timber  lands,  and  providing  a  penalty  for 
each  violation  of  the  law,  of  a  fine  not  less  than  triple  the  value 
of  the  timber  cut,  destroyed  or  removed,  a'nd  a  term  of  impris- 
onment not  to  exceed  twelve  months.  This  law  was  effectively 
ignored  or  evaded  by  individual  lumber  capitalists  or  lumber 
corporations.  In  a  long  report,  under  orders,  to  United  States 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  Robert  McClelland,  on  February  12, 
1854,  James  B.  Estes,  U.  S.  Timber  Agent  for  Iowa,  Minnesota 
and  the  Western  District  of  Wisconsin,  stated  that  in  one  Minne- 
sota section  alone — ^the  Black  River  District — more  than  two 
hundred  million  feet  of  pine  had  been  cut  and  carried  away.  'On 


34 


the  Black  River/  wrote  Estes,  'are  sixteen  lumbering  mills,  all  of 
which,  ulitil  the  past  year,  have  been  supported  by  logs  taken 
from  the  public  domain. 

"  'Upon  the  Chippewa  and  Red  Cedar  or  Menominee  rivers 
the  same  state  of  waste  exists  and  has  been  carried  on  for  a 
number  of  years.  There  are  also  upon  these  streams  and  their 
branches  eight  sawmills  which  doubtless  cut,  as  an  average,  more 
than  two  million  of  feet  a  year.  The  amount  of  timber  cut  at 
all  of  these  mills  is  small  compared  with  the  actual  waste  upon 
the  public  lands,  as  there  is  now  and  has  been  for  years  a  most 
extensive  business  of  logging  carried  on  to  supply  the  lower 
markets  of  the  Mississipppi. 

"  'Along  certain  rivers  besides  those  named,'  Estes  added, 
there  were  nineteen  sawmills  of  steam  and  water  power  which 
are  engaged  in  cutting,  and  doubtless  consume,  forty  or  fifty 
million  feet  of  lumber  yearly.  In  addition  to  this  there  has  been 
a  large  traffic  in  rafti'ng  logs  down  the  Mississippi  to  the  St.  Louis 
and  other  markets  below.' 

Bribery  of  Officers. 

"This  immense  amount  of  lumber  was  almost  all  stolen.  Usu- 
ally the  Government  timber  agents  were  bribed  to  wink  at  this 
colossal  system  of  fraud,  and  at  other  times  they  were  likewise 
bribed  to  sell  (what  they  had  no  legal  authority  to  sell)  per- 
mission or  licenses,  for  insignificant  payme'nt  to  the  Government, 
to  cut  timber  from  the  public  lands.  Estes  reported  that  he  had 
instituted  twenty-one  indictments  against  some  of  these  timber 
trespassers,  and  that  among  the  number  he  had  caused  to  be  in- 
dicted, was  Stunton,  a  former  United  States  Timber  Agent,  for 
being  accessory  to  those  trespasses,  in  having  sold  to  individ- 
uals permission  to  cut  and  waste. 

"So  intrenched  was  this  system  of  enormous  theft  that  when 
one  honest  Government  official  attempted  to  enforce  the  law, 
the  whole  lumber  interests  sought  to  discredit  him  and  his  aim 
and  bring  about  his  removal. 

"Even  further:  not  only  did  the  lumber  capitalists  systemati- 
cally seek  to  thwart  the  enforcement  of  the  law  by  honest  offi- 
cials ;  all  of  the  allied  capitalists  in  the  same  region,  and  subsi- 
dized newspaper  owners  and  hirelings  joined  in  threatening  a'nd 
ioften  using  force  to  prevent  the  laws  from  being  executed.  This 
is  clearly  shown  by  the  report  made  on  Feb.  18,  1854,  by  I.  W. 
Willard,  U.  S.  Timber  Agent  for  Western  Michigan,  to  United 
States  Secretary  of  the  Interior  McClelland.  Willard  estimated 
that  'there  have  been  manufactured  and  shipped  from  there  (the 
region  north  of  Grand  River  and  Lake  Michigan)  more  than  five 
hundred  million  feet  of  lumber  within  the  last  ten  years,  and 
more  than  seven-eighths  of  which  was  plundered  from  the  public 
lands.' 


35 


Honest  Officials  Maligned  and  Prosecuted. 


"Willard  caused  thirty-seven  of  the  trespassers  to  be  indicted. 
Then  he  wrote :  'The  entire  timber  interests  commenced  a  syste- 
matic war  upon  me.  The  newspapers  at  Chicago,  it  is  believed 
at  the  instance  of  the  trespassers,  their  attorneys  and  agents  con- 
tained attacks  daily  upon  the  agent,  characterizing  his  conduct 
as  oppressive  in  the  extreme,  and  the  ''Chicago  Tribune"  went 
so  far  as  to  counsel  resistance  by  force.  Meetings  were  held  in 
the  lumber  regions,  attended  by  lumber  merchants  from  Chicago 
in  some  instances,  at  which  violent  harangues  were  made,  and 
resolutions  adopted,  the  temper  of  which  was  well  calculated 
to  excite  a  feeling  leading  to  the  most  dangerous  consequences.' 
In  fact,  the  timber  capitalists  employed  armed  gangs  to  prevent 
the  seizure  of  stolen  lumber,  and  fleets  of  lake  ships  were  re- 
quisitioned to  carry  off  the  lumber  by  stealth  before  the  govern- 
ment agents  could  arrive  to  co'nfiscate  it. 

"The  lumber  barons  wanted  their  predacious  share  of  the 
public  domain  ;  thruout  certain  parts  of  the  West  and  in  the 
South  were  far-stretching,  magnificent  forests  covered  with  the 
growth  of  centuries.  To  want  and  to  get  them  were  the  same 
thing,  with  a  government  in  power  represelntative  of  capitalism. 

Spoliation  on  a  Great  Scale. 

"At  the  behest  of  the  lumber  corporations,  or  of  adventurers 
or  politicians  who  saw  a  facile  way  of  becomi'ng  multi-million- 
aires by  the  simple  passage  of  an  act,  the  'Stone  and  Timber  Act' 
was  passed  in  1878  by  Congress.  An  amendment  passed  in  1892 
made  frauds  still  easier.  This  measure  was  one  of  those  benev- 
olent-looking laws  which,  on  its  face,  extended  opportunities  to 
the  homesteader  .  .  Here  was  a  way  open  for  any  individual 
homesteader  to  get  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  timber  land 
for  the  low  price  of  $2.50  an  acre: 

"This  law,  like  the  Desert  Land  Law,  it  turned  out,  was  filled 
with  cunningly  drawn  clauses  sanctioning  thes  worst  forms  of 
spoliation.  Entire  train  loads  of  people  acting  in  collusion  with 
the  land  grabbers,  were  transported  by  the  lumber  syndicates 
hito  the  richest  timber  regions  of  the  West,  supplied  with  the 
funds  to  buy,  and  then  each  after  having  paid  $2.50  per  acre  for 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  immediately  transferred  his  or  her 
allotment  to  the  lumber  corporations.  Thus  for  $2.50  an  acre 
the  lumber  syndicates  obtained  vast  tracts  of  the  finest  lands 
worth,  at  the  least,  according  to  Government  age'nts,  $100  an 
acre,  at  a  time,  thirty-five  years  ago,  when  lumber  was  not  nearly 
so  costly  as  now. 

"Under  this  one  law — ^the  Stone  and  Timber  Act — irrespect- 
ive of  other  complaisant  laws,  not  less  than  $57,000,000  has  been 
stolen  in  the  last  seven  years  alone  from  the  Government,  ac- 
cording to  a  statement  made  in  Congress  by  Representative 
Hitchcock  of  Nebraska  on  May  5,  1908.    He  declared  that 


36 


8,000,000  acres  had  been  sold  for  $20,000,000  while  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Interior  had  admitted  in  writing  that  the  actual  ag- 
gregate value  of  the  land,  at  prevailing  commercial  prices,  was 
$77,000,000.  These  lands,  he  asserted,  had  passed  into  the 
ha'nds  of  the  Lumber  Trust,  and  their  products  were  sold  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States  at  an  advance  of  seventy  per  cent. 
This  theft  of  $57,000,000  simply  represe'nted  the  years  from 
1901  to  1908;  it  is  probable  that  the  entire  thefts  for  10,395,- 
689,960  acres,  sold  during  the  whole  series  of  years  since  the 
Stone  and  Timber  Act  was  passed,  reach  a  much  vaster 
amount.  'Wealthy  speculators  and  powerful  syndicates,'  re- 
ported Commissioner  Sparks,  'covet  the  public  domain  and  a 
survey  is  the  first  step  in  the  accomplishmeiit  of  this  desire. 

"  'Prospectors  employed  by  lumber  firms  and  corporations 
seek  out  and  report  the  most  valuable  timber  tracts  in  California, 
Oregon,  Washington  Territory  and  elsewhere ;  settlers'  applica- 
tions are  manufactured  as  a  basis  for  survey;  contracts  are  en- 
tered into  and  pushed  thru  the  General  Land  Office  i'n  hot  haste ; 
a  skeleton  survey  is  made  .  .  entry  papers,  made  perfect  in  form 
by  competent  attorneys,  are  filed  in  bulk,  and  the  manipulators 
enter  into  possession  of  the  land.  .  .  This  has  been  the  course  of 
proceeding  heretofore.'  " 

The  following  from  "The  Lumber  Industry,"  Part  2,  report 
by  the  Bureau  of  Corporations,  July  13,  1914,  throws  further 
light  on  the  methods  used  by  some  of  our  "leading  citizens" ;  in 
plundering  the  people. 

Land  Frauds  in  Redwood  Belt. 

"That  75  holders  own  nearly  a  million  and  a  quarter  acres  of 
land  indicates  an  unusually  high  degree  of  concentration,  when 
it  is  considered  that  it  has  been  attained  without  the  presence 
in  this  region  of  any  Federal  land  grant,  such  as  tended  to 
strengthen  the  conce'ntration  in  Northeastern  California,  West- 
ern Oregon,  and  Southwestern  Washington.  This  seems  to  have 
been  done  chiefly  under  the  Federal  land  laws  despite  their  ini- 
tial restriction  of  160  acres  to  the  person.  A  passage  from  the 
report  of  the  Public  Lands  Commission  of  February  21,  1880, 
indicates  how  the  spirit  of  the  law  was  violated : 

"  'The  commission  visited  the  redwood-producing  portion 
of  the  State  of  California  and  saw  little  huts  or  kennels 
built  of  "shakes"  that  were  totally  unfit  for  human  habita- 
tion and  always  had  been,  which  were  the  sole  improve- 
ments made  under  the  homestead  and  pre-emption  laws, 
and  by  means  of  which  large  areas  of  redwood  forests,  pos- 
sessing great  value,  had  been  taken  under  pretense  of  settle- 
ment and  cultivation,  which  were  the  purest  fiction,  never 
having  any  real  existence  in  fact,  but  of  which  "due  proof" 
had  been  made  under  the  laws. 

"  'In  some  sections  of  timber-bearing  country,  where 
there  should  be,  according  to  the  "proofs"  made,  large 


37 


settlements  of  industrious  agriculturists  engagedin  tilling  the 
soil,  a  primeval  stillness  reigns  supreme,  the  solitude  height- 
ened a'nd  intensified  by  the  grandeur  of  high  mountain 
peaks,  where  farms  should  be  according  to  the  proofs  made, 
the  mythical  agriculturist  having  departed  after  making  his 
*'final  proof"  by  perjury,  which  is  an  unfavorable  commen- 
tary upon  the  operation  of  purely  beneficient  laws.'  " 

A  much  more  definite  statement  covering  extensive  frauds 
by  which  a  large  timber  firm  attempted  to  acquire  100,000  acres 
of  choice  red-wood  lands  hi  the  Humboldt  district  ,is  found  in  the 
report  of  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office  for  1886 : 

"This  case  shows  that  the  ramifications  of  the  fraud  ex- 
tended into  the  General  Land  Office  at  Washington,  and 
also  shows  some  of  the  difficulties  encountered  by  special 
agents  when  their  discoveries  implicate  wealthy  and  influ- 
e'ntial  persons.  In  1883,  a  special  agent  of  this  office  re- 
ported that  this  company  had  procured  a  large  number  of 
fraudulent  entries,  amounting,  according  to  his  estimates, 
to  not  less  than  100,000  acres.  The  agent's  report  disclosed 
the  scheme  of  fraud  in  all  its  details,  and  was  supported 
by  specific  evidence  in  many  cases.  He  also  informed  this 
office  that  he  had  been  offered  a  bribe  of  $5,000  to  suppress 
the  facts  and  aba'ndon  the  investigation,  which  he  declined. 
This  agent  was  subsequently  suspended  from  duty,  and 
afterwards  dismissed  from  the  service  at  the  instance,  as 
understood  in  this  office,  of  great  influence  brought  against 
him  on  the  Pacific  Coast  and  in  Washington. 

"A  new  agent  was  appointed,  who  reached  his  field  of 
operations  about  the  first  of  January  last  and  entered  upon 
the  discharge  of  his  duties.  The  agents  of  this  company  soon 
discovered  his  presence  and  business  and  attempted  to  de- 
feat the  investigation.  Some  of  the  witnesses  were  spirited 
out  of  the  country  ;  others  were  threatened  and  intimidated; 
spies  were  employed  to  watch  and  follow  the  agent  and  re- 
port the  names  of  all  persons  who  conversed  with  or  called 
upon  him;  and  on  one  occasion  two  persons  who  were  about 
to  enter  the  agent's  room  at  his  hotel  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
ferring with  him  rn  reference  to  the  entries,  were  knocked 
down  and  dragged  away.  Notwithstanding  this  the  agent 
proceeded  with  his  investigation  and  succeeded  in  obtaining 
a  large  amount  of  evidence.  He  found  90  of  the  entrymen 
and  procured  their  affidavits  as  to  the  frauds  a'nd  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  were  induced  to  make  the  applications 
and  affidavits.  This  testimony  embraced  47  of  the  patented 
cases.  Several  employes  of  the  company  gave  sworn  state- 
ments of  their  connection  with  the  illegal  transactions  and 
of  facts  within  their  knowledge.  Affidavits  were  also  made 
by  citizens  of  Eureka  and  other  reliable  persons,  among 
which  were  the  affidavits  of  sixteen  business  men,  who  were 
asked  to  make  entry  applications  in  the  interest  of  the  com- 
pany and  offered  $50  each,  but  who  declined  to  do  so.  It 


38 


appears  that  the  persons  composing  this  company  we'nt  to 
work  systematically  and  on  an  extensive  scale,  and  to  en- 
able them  to  carry  thru  their  scheme  they  took  into  their 
association  several  wealthy  men  who  furnished  the  neces- 
sary means.  Expert  surveyors  and  men  well  informed  i'n 
regard  to  the  character  and  value  of  timber  were  employed 
to  locate  and  survey  the  lands.  Others  were  then  hired  to 
go  upon  the  streets  of  Eureka  and  elsewhere  and  find  per- 
sons who  could  be  induced  to  sign  applications  for  land  and 
tra'nsfer  their  interests  to  the  company,  a  consideration  of 
$50  being  paid  for  each  tract  of  160  acres  so  secured.  The 
company's  agent  received  $5  for  each  applicant  obtained. 
No  effort  seems  to  have  been  made  to  keep  the  matter  se- 
cret, and  all  classes  of  people  were  approached  by  agents 
and  principals  of  the  company  and  asked  to  sign  applica- 
tions. Sailors  were  caught  while  in  port  and  hurried  into 
a  saloon  or  to  a  certain  notary  public's  office  and  induced 
to  sign  applications  and  convey  the  lands  to  a  member  of 
the  firm.  Farmers  were  stopped  on  their  way  to  their  homes, 
and  merchants  were  called  from  their  counters  and  per- 
suaded to  allow  their  names  to  be  used  to  obtain  title  to  the 
lands.  The  company's  agent  presented  the  applications  to 
the  Registerer  and  Receiver  in  blocks  of  as  many  as  25  at  one 
time;  paid  the  fees;  had  the  proper  notice  published;  hired 
men  to  make  the  proofs;  paid  for  the  lands  and  received 
the  duplicate  receipts ;  yet  the  Registerer  and  Receiver  and 
some  of  the  special  agents  appear  to  have  been  the  only 
persons  in  the  vicinity  who  were  ignorant  of  the  frauds." 

The  following  is  from  the  same  report: 

Manner  of  Acquisition  of  Timber  Lands  in  Portions  of  Idaho 

Questioned. 

"A  resolution  introduced  in  the  House  of  Representatives  in 
1910  (H.  Res.  807,  61st  Cong.,  2nd  Sess.)  charged  fraud  in  the 
acquisition  of  public  lands  by  lumber  companies  in  the  State  of 
Idaho,  and  directed  a  Congressio'nal  investigation  of  the  matter. 
The  territory  involved  was  referred  to  as  'the  Marble  Creek  dis- 
trict in  the  counties  Shoshone,  Kootenai,  and  Nez  Perce,'  the 
area  covered  being  given  as  approximately  14  townships.  The 
proposed  resolution  alleged,  in  general,  that  the  Edward  Rut- 
ledge  Lumber  Co.  and  other  companies  operating  i'n  the  district 
had  formed  an  unlawful  combination,  and  were  affiliated  'in  what 
is  commonly  known  as  the  Weyerhaeuser  Lumber  Syndicate,' 
and  were  acting  together  in  fraudulently  acquiring  title  to  the 
public  lalids  referred  to,  and  in  manufacturing  and  disposing  of 
the  lumber  products  of  these  lands.  It  further  charged  that  many 
settlers  then  living  upon  these  lands  were  being  forcibly  and 
fraudulently  interfered  with  by  this  alleged  syndicate,  and  that 
the  market  value  of  the  white  pine  timber  of  this  region  had 
been  forced  down  to  not  more  than  $5,000  per  quarter  section, 


39 


when  the  actual  value  of  many  quarter  sections  was  $35,000. 
It  also  alleged  specific  acts  of  fraud,  conspiracy  and  intimida- 
tion in  acquiring  or  attempting  to  acquire  these  lands.  Certain 
officers  and  agents  of  the  State  of  Idaho  were  Involved  in  the 
charges. 

*The  resolution  further  recited  that  Northern  Pacific  Scrip 
bought  by  the  syndicate  was  filed  on  lands  already  occupied  by 
settlers;  that  claim  jumpers  were  employed,  and  contests  entered 
in  the  local  land  office.  Of  the  companies  referred  to  in  the 
^Weyerhaeuser  Lumber  Syndicate ;  only  two  were  named,  the 
Edward  Rutledge  Lumber  Co.  and  the  Totlatch  Associatio'n.' 

*'The  resolution  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Rules,  but 
was  never  reported  out  of  committee,  and  no  further  action  was 
taken.'' 


40 


CHAPTER  6. 


RUINOUS  MISMANAGEMENT  OF  STOLEN  PROPERTY. 

SOME  idea  of  the  waste  and  destruction  of  the  forests  of  the 
U.  S.  can  be  gained  from  the  following  extracts  from  the  re- 
port by  the  Forest  Service,  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture, 
June  1,  1920,  entitled  ^'Timber  Depletion,  Lumber  Prices,  Lum- 
ber Exports,  and  Co'ncentration  of  Timber  Ownership." 

"The  outstanding  facts  reported  by  the  Forest  Service  are: 

(1)  That  three-fifths  of  the  original  timber  of  the  United 
States  is  gone  and  that  we  are  using  timber  four  times  as  fast 
as  we  are  growing  it.  The  forests  remaining  are  so  localized 
as  greatly  to  reduce  their  national  utility.  The  bulk  of  the  pop- 
ulation and  manufacturing  industries  of  the  U.  S.  are  depe'ndent 
upon  distant  supplies  of  timber,  as  the  result  of  the  depletion  of 
the  principal  forest  areas  east  of  the  Great  Plains. 

(2)  That  the  depletion  of  timber  is  not  the  sole  cause  of  the 
recent  high  prices  of  forest  products,  but  is  an  important  contrib- 
uting cause  whose  effects  will  increase  steadily  as  depletio'n  con- 
tinues. 

(3)  That  the  fundamental  problem  is  to  increase  the  produc- 
tion of  timber  by  stopping  forest  devastation. 

"The  virgin  forests  of  the  United  States  covered  822  million 
acres.  They  are  now  shrunk  to  one -sixth  of  that  area.  All 
classes  of  forest  land,  including  culled,  burned,  and  cut  over 
areas,  now  aggregate  463  million  acres,  or  a  little  more  than 
one-half  of  our  original  forests.  Of  the  forest  land  remaining 
and  not  utilized  for  farming  or  any  other  purpose,  approxi- 
mately 81  million  acres  have  been  so  severely  cut  and  burned 
as  to  become  an  unproductive  waste.  This  area  is  equivalent  to 
the  combined  forests  of  Germany,  Denmark,  Holland,  Belgium, 
France,  Switzerland,  Spain  and  Portugal.  Upon  an  enormous 
additional  area  the  growth  of  timber  is  so  small  i'n  amount  or  of 
such  inferior  character  that  its  economic  value  is  negligible. 

"The  merchantable  new  timber  remaining  in  the  United 
States  is  estimated  roughly  at  2,215  billion  board  feet,  something 
less  than  three-fourths  of  which  is  virgin  stumpage.  The  rest 
is  second  growth  of  relatively  inferior  quality.  About  one-half 
of  the  timber  left  is  in  the  three  Pacific  Coast  States,  and  over 
61  per  cent  is  west  of  the  Great  Plains.  A  little  over  one-fifth 
of  the  timber  left  in  the  country,  or  460  billion  board  feet,  is 
hardwoods. 

"There  is  now  consumed  or  destroyed  annually  in  the  United 
States  56  billion  board  feet  of  material  of  saw  timber  size.  The 


41 


total  yearly  consumption  of  all  classes  of  timber  is  about  26 
billion  cubic  feet.  Our  depleted  forests  are  growing  less  than 
o'ne-fourth  of  this  amount.  The  United  States  is  not  only  cutting 
heavily  into  its  remaining  virgin  forests  every  year,  but  is  also 
using  up  the  smaller  material  upon  which  our  future  supply  of 
saw  timber  depends,  much  more  rapidly  than  it  is  being  replaced. 

"The  two  striking  effects  of  timber  depletion  already  appar- 
ent are: 

(1)  The  injury  to  large  groups  of  wood  users  and  to  many 
communities,  resulting  from  the  exhaustion  of  the  nearby  forest 
regions  from  which  they  were  formerly  supplied,  and 

(2)  The  shortage  of  timber  products  of  high  quality. 
*'Less  than  5  per  cent  of  the  virgin  forests  of  New  England 

remain,  and  the  total  stand  of  saw  timber  in  these  States  is  not 
more  than  one-eighth  of  the  original  sta'nd.  New  York,  once  the 
leading  State  in  lumber  production,  now  manufactures  only  30 
board  feet  per  capita  yearly,  altho  the  requirements  of  its  own 
population  are  close  to  300  board  feet  per  capita.  The  present 
cut  of  lumber  in  Pennsylvania  is  less  than  the  amount  consumed 
in  the  Pittsburgh  district  alone.  The  original  pine  forests  of  the 
Lake  States,  estimated  at  350  billion  feet,  are  now  reduced  to 
less  than  8  billion  feet,  and  their  yearly  cut  of  timber  is  less  than 
one-eighth  of  what  it  used  to  be.  These  four  densely  populated 
regions,  containing  themselves  very  large  areas  of  forest  land, 
are  now  largely  dependent  upon  timber  grown  and  manufact- 
ured elsewhere,  and  are  becoming  increasingly  dependent  upon 
timber  which  must  be  shipped  the  width  of  the  continent. 

'The  bulk  of  the  building,  lumber  and  structural  timbers 
used  in  the  Eastern  and  Central  States  during  the  last  15  years 
was  grown  in  the  pine  forests  of  the  South.  The  virgin  pine  for- 
ests of  the  South  Atlantic  and  Gulf  States  have  been  reduced 
from  about  650  billion  board  feet  to  about  139  billion  feet.  The 
production  of  yellow  pine  lumber  is  now  falling  off  and  within 
ten  years  will  probably  not  exceed  the  requirements  of  the  South- 
ern States  themselves. 

"The  United  States  at  one  time  contained  the  most  extensive 
temperate  zone  hardwood  forests  in  the  world.  One  region 
after  another  has  been  cut  out.  The  production  of  hardwood 
products  on  the  past  scale  cannot  be  long  continued.  The  scarc- 
ity of  high-grade  oak,  poplar,  ash,  hickory,  walnut  and  other 
standard  woods  is  now  placing  many  American  industries  in  a 
critical  condition. 

"The  depletion  of  forest  resources  is  not  confined  to  saw  tim- 
ber. Since  1900,  the  country  has  ceased  being  self-supporting 
in  newsprint  paper  and  now  imports  two-thirds  of  the  pulp,  pulp- 
wood  and  newsprint  which  we  require.  This  condition  is  due  in 
part  to  timber  depletion,  in  part  to  failure  of  the  paper  industry 
to  expand  in  our  western  forest  regions  as  the  lumber  industry 
has  expanded.  In  1919,  the  production  of  turpentine  and  rosin 
had  fallen  off  50  per  cent.  Within  ten  years  the  United  States 
will  lose  its  commanding  position  in  the  world'a  market  for  those 


4§ 


products  and  may  in  time  be  unable  to  supply  its  domestic  re- 
quirements. 

....*ln  March,  1920,  average  mill  prices  in  the  South  and 
West  had  increased  300  per  cent  and  moreover  the  prices  re- 
ceived in  1914,  and  average  retail  prices  in  the  Middle  West 
showed  increases  ranging  from  150  to  200  per  cent. 

''Obviously  these  lumber  prices  bear  no  relation  to  the  cost 
of  production  a'nd  distribution.  While  the  costs  of  production 
in  the  lumber  industry  have  at  least  doubled  as  compared  with 
1916,  lumber  prices  have  much  more  than  doubled  and  have  be- 
come wholly  disproportionate  to  operating  costs.  Excessive  prof- 
its have  been  made  in  the  industry.  The  division  of  these  profits 
between  manufacture  and  distribution  has  varied  in  accordance 
with  circumstances  a'nd  the  ability  of  the  various  elements  in  the 
industry  to  dominate  the  situation. 


*ln  1918,  our  per  capita  consumption  of  lumber  was  about 
300  board  feet.  The  homes  and  industries  of  the  United  States 
require  at  least  35  billion  feet  of  lumber  yearly,  aside  from 
enormous  quantities  of  paper  and  other  products  of  the  forests. 
A  reduction  of  the  current  supply  of  lumber  below  this  figure 
would  seriously  curtail  our  economic  development.  Appreciable 
Increases  in  lumber  imports  are  not  possible  except  at  excessive 
prices.  We  cannot  afford  to  cut  our  per  capita  use  of  lumber 
to  one-half  or  one-third  the  present  amount — ^to  the  level  of 
European  countries  where  lumber  is  an  imported  luxury.  We 
must  produce  the  great  bulk  of  this  timber  which  we  need  our- 
selves, and  we  have  the  resources  for  doing  so. 

"The  solution  of  the  problem  presented  by  forest  depletion 
in  the  United  States  is  a  national  policy  of  reforestation.  .  .  . 
Depletion  has  not  resulted  from  the  use  of  forests  but  from  their 
devastation,  from  our  failure  while  drawing  upon  our  reservoirs 
of  virgin  timber  to  also  use  our  timber-growing  land.  If  our 
enormous  areas  of  forest  growing  land,  now  idle  or  largely  idle, 
which  are  not  required  for  any  other  economic  use,  ca'n  be  re- 
stored to  timber  growth,  a  future  supply  of  forest  products  ade- 
quate in  the  main  to  the  needs  of  the  country  will  be  assured. 

"There  were  27,000  recorded  forest  fires  in  1919,  burning  a 
total  of  8l^  million  acres.  During  the  preceding  year,  25,000 
fires  burned  over  IOV2  million  acres  of  forest  land.  An  addi- 
tio'nal  large  acreage  was  burned  each  year,  of  which  no  record 
could  be  obtained.*' 

According  to  estimates  published  in  "American  Forestry," 
Sept.  1920:  "The  bulk  of  the  original  supplies  of  yellow  pine  in 
the  South  will  be  gone  in  ten  years,  and  within  seven  years  3,000 
manufacturing  plants  will  go  out  of  business.'' 

The  following  is  from  an  article  by  Franklin  H.  Smith,  Statis- 
tician in  Forest  Products: 

"Going  back  to  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  we  can  dis- 
tinctly trace  the  history  of  the  lumber  of  the  country  at  ten  year 
intervals  by  showing  the  relative  importance  of  the  several  pro- 
ducing regions.    This  has  been  done  in  Table  1. 


43 


TABLE  1.— LUMBER  CUT  BY  GROUPS  OF  STATES,  IN  PER  CENT  OF 

THE  TOTAL. 


Groups  1850   1860    1870    1880    1890    1900    1909  1918 

P.  C.  P.  c.  p.  c.  p.  c.  p.  c.  p.  c.  p.  c.  p.  c. 

Total  100.0  100.0  100.0  100.0  100.0  100.0  100.0  100.0 


Northeastern  Group  54.8  37.0  37.8  25.8  19.8  16.3  11.7  7.4 

Central   Group   18.6  21.1  20.0  18.4  13.1  16.1  12.3  7.8 

Southern  Group                     8.5  13.0  6.9  9.7  15.6  24.0  33.3  34.9 

North  Carolina  Pine  Group  5.1  4.8  2.5  4.1      4.7  7.7  11.6  8.3 

Lake  States  Group                 6.3  13.6  24.4  34.7  34.6  24.9  12.3  10.1 

Pacific  Group                         5.9  6.4  4.0  3.6      8.5  8.3  15.5  26.9 

Eocky  Mountain  Group  ....  0.0  .1  .9  .9      1.1  1.6  2.9  4.4 

All  Other  Groups   8  4.0  3.5  2.8      2.6  1.1  .4  .2 


Northeastern  Group. 

Connecticut,  Delaware,  Mary- 
land, Maine,  Massachusetts, 
New  Hampshire,  New  Jersey, 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ver- 
mont, Rhode  Island. 

North  Carolina  Pine  Group. 

North  Carolina,  South  Caro- 
lina, Virginia. 

Rocky  Mountain  Group. 

Arizona,  Colorado,  Idaho,  Mon- 
tana, New  Mexico,  Utah,  Wy- 
omhig. 


Central  Group. 

Illinois,  Indiana,  Missouri,  Ken- 
tucky, Ohio,  Tennessee,  West 
Virginia. 

Lake  States  Group. 
Michigan,  Minnesota,  Wiscon- 
sin. 

All  Other. 

Iowa,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  South 
Dakota. 

Southern  Group. 

Alabama,   Arkansas,  Florida, 
Georgia,  Louisiana,  Mississippi, 
Oklahoma,  Texas. 


Pacific  Group. 

California,    Nevada,  Orego'n, 
Washington. 

**Within  seventy  years  three  immense  regions  have  been  di- 
vested of  their  forest  cover  to  a  large  extent  and  the  fourth,  the 
Southern  Pine  Region,  has  reached  its  apex  of  production.  No 
other  land  was  ever  more  generously  blessed  with  timber,  or  tim- 
ber so  well  adapted  to  man's  needs,  as  our  own  great  stretch  of 
country.  Perhaps  it  has  been  the  very  great  abundance  of  wood 
on  every  hand  that  has  caused  us  as  a  people  to  value  it  lightly 
and  countenance  its  ruthless  destruction  by  fire  and  improvident 
lumbering  methods. 

"The  accompanying  outline  map  of  the  United  States  shows 
the  total  production  for  each  of  the  eight  general  lumber  produc- 
tion regions  for  the  period  of  1850-1918. 


45 


TABLE  2.— ANNUAL  CONSUMPTION  OF  TIMBER  IN  THE  UNITED 

STATES. 


Cubic  Feet  of 
Quantity  Pro-       Equivalent  in      Timber  Re- 
Form  Used.  duced  or  Feet.  quired  to 

Consumed.         Board  Measure.  Produce. 


Lumber   37,300,000,000  cords  36,663,000,000  10,450,000,000 

Fuelwood    110,000,000  ft.  B.  M.  37,300,000,000  8,168,700,000 

Fence  posts   900,000,000  posts  4,500,000,000  1,800,000,000 

Hewed  cross-ties  ....  87,500,000  ties  2,625,000,000  1,050,000,000 

Pulpwood    4,550,000  cords  2,548,000,000  532,350,000 

Round  mine  timbers  250,000,000  cu.  ft.  1,500,000,000  32*5,000,000 

Shingles    8,850,000,000  shingles  885,000,000  194,700,000 

Wood  distillation  ....  1,550,000  cords  868,000,000  181,350,000 

Tanning  extract  wood     1,250,000  cords  700,000,000  146,250,000 

Veneers    650,000,000  ft  logs.  780,000,000  119,600,000 

Tight  staves   286,000,000  staves  286,000,000  95,238,000 

Vehicle  stock   300,000,000  ft.  B.  M.  300,000,000  90,000,000 

Slack  staves   1,010,000,000  staves  337,000,000  66,660,000 

Woodenware    350,000,000  ft.  B.  M.  350,000,000  56,000,000 

Poles    4,250,000  poles  255,000,000  55,250,000 

Handles    200,000,000  ft.  B.  M.  200,000,000  50,000,000 

Slack  heading    61,000,000  sets  122,000,000  49,471,000 

Hewn  and  rough  ex- 
port   200,000,000  ft.  B.  M.  200,000,000  45,000,000 

Lath    2,375,000,000  lath  475,000,000  35,525,000 

Tight  heading    21,000,000  sets  84,000,000  34,125,000 

Excelsior    200,000  cords  120,000,000  23,400,000 

Hoops    333,000,000  hoops  100,000,000  19,647,000 

Piling   1,500,000  pieces  90,000,000  19,500,000 

Ship  building   10,000,000  ft.  B.  M.  10,000,000  2,190,000 

Furniture    10,000,000  ft.  B.  M.  10,000,000  1,500,000 

Total   91,308,000,000  23,611,556,000 


*'The  major  demands  made  annually  upon  the  forests,  based 
upon  the  latest  available  statistics,  are  shown  in  Table  2.  In  the 
first  column  the  volume  of  production  or  consumption  is  ex- 
pressed by  the  commo'n  unit  of  measurement;  in  the  second  col- 
umn the  equivalent  is  given  in  board  measure ;  and  in  the  third 
column  the  approximate  cubic  contents  of  wood  drawn  from  the 
forest  to  produce  the  products  is  enumerated. 

"The  tabulation  indicates  the  annual  use  of  the  equivalent 
of  91  billion  board  feet  of  timber  for  all  purposes  in  the  United 
States.  A  substantial  basis  exists  in  every  instance  for  the  figures 
given  and  they  may  be  regarded  as  conservative  rather  than 
overdrawn.  To  produce  91  billion  board  feet  every  year  re- 
quires a  yield  of  2SV2  billion  cubic  feet  of  timber,  a  stupendous 
crop  and  worthy  of  the  most  prodigal  nation.'' 

The  following  extracts  are  from  a  report  k'nown  as  By-Prod- 
ucts  of  the  Lumber  Industry  by  the  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Do- 
mestic Commerce,  Nov.  15,  1915: 

46 


"The  waste  of  timber  in  logging,  while  extremely  variable, 
can  be  estimated  perhaps  more  definitely.  Waste  in  stumpage 
occurs  by  cutting  the  trees  too  high  and  leaving  the  stumps  to 
rot.  Young  trees  are  frequently  not  protected  from  falling  tim- 
ber. Immature  and  defective  trees  are  cut  and  rejected.  Large 
limbs,  tree  tops  a'nd  logged  trees  are  left  to  waste.  Small  bodies 
of  timber  are  often  left  standing.  Trees  broke'n  in  falling  are 
generally  left,  as  are  also  short  log  lengths. 

"The  conversion  of  the  log  into  lumber  entails  some  nec- 
essary waste  in  a  saw  mill.  These  items  have  been  itemized  by 
Margolin  as  follows: 

Per    Cent    of  Total 
Items.  Volume    of  Log. 


Loss  of  bark  -  10.0  20.0 

Loss  due  to  kerf    13.5 

Loss  due  to  edging  and  trimming    8.7 

Slabs   8.7 

Loss  due  to  carelessness   

Manufacture  -   3.5 

Loss  due  to  standardizing  length  and  width  of  boards   1.7 


Total   46.1  56.1 


"The  annual  quantity  of  mill  waste  in  the  United  States  may 
be  roughly  estimated  at  4,000,000,000  cubic  feet  of  wood. 

"The  relation  of  the  tree  in  the  forest  to  the  lumber  derived 
from  it,  may  be  expressed  in  the  statement  that  an  average  of 
only  320  feet  of  lumber  is  used  for  each  1,000  feet  that  stood  in 
the  forest.  The  possibilities  of  this  shrinkage  are  aptly  expressed 
in  the  following  quotation: 

"If  all  the  wood  wasted  in  the  manufacture  of  yellow  pine 
lumber  in  1907  had  been  steam  distilled  for  the  production  of 
wood  turpentine,  it  would  have  yielded  more  than  the  total  pro- 
duction of  gum  turpentine  in  that  year.  If  all  the  wood  wasted 
in  the  manufacture  of  lumber  from  spruce,  hemlock,  poplar  and 
Cottonwood  in  1907  had  been  used  for  papermaking,  it  would 
have  furnished  all  the  paper  made  from  pulp  in  that  year.  If 
all  the  wood  that  went  to  waste  in  the  manufacture  of  chestnut 
lumber  in  1907  had  been  used  to  make  tanning  extract,  we 
would  have  produced  twice  as  much  as  was  produced  from  the 
chestnut  cordwood  used  for  that  purpose.  The  waste  in  the  ma'n- 
ufacture  of  beech,  birch  and  maple  in  1917  was  nearly  equal  to 
the  quantity  of  these  woods  cut  for  distillation.  The  waste  in  the 
manufacture  of  oak  lumber  was  twice  the  quantity  of  all  the 
hardwoods  used  for  distillation."* 

The  following  is  from  another  report  known  as:  The  Export 
Lumber  Trade  of  the  United  States,  by  the  Bureau  of  Foreign 
and  Domestic  Commerce: 

"In  many  sections  sawmill  operators  contracted  to  cut  parcels 
of  timber  within  a  specified  time,  timber  left  on  the  tract  at  the 
expiration  of  the  time  limit  to  be  forfeited  to  the  owner  of  the 


♦Senate  document  No,  676,  Sixtieth  Congress,  second  session.    Vol.  1,  PP,  66-67, 

47 


land.  It  often  happened  thus  that  the  operator  threw  the  lum- 
ber on  the  market  at  any  price  to  avoid  a  greater  loss,  thereby 
causing  a  general  decline  in  prices  thruout  his  section.  To  meet  his 
competition,  other  manufacturers  had  to  cut  prices,  and,  to  oper- 
ate at  a  profit,  they  also  utilized  only  the  best  material  i'n  the 
tree,  leaving  millions  of  feet  of  the  lov^er  grades  in  the  woods. 
It  has  been  estimated  that  in  this  country  only  about  40  per  cent 
of  the  trees  is  marketed  while  in  Germany,  for  instance,  96  per 
cent  of  the  felled  tree  is  utilized. 

'*The  machinery  used  in  American  saw  and  pla'ning  mills  is 
well  constructed  and  capable  of  turning  out  the  product  very 
fast.  It  may  suit  the  manufacturers  at  present,  when  compara- 
tively little  value  is  attributed  to  the  raw  material,  but  in  the 
near  future  with  increasing  prices  for  stumpage,  improvement 
in  the  type  of  machinery  and  in  manufacturing  methods  will  be- 
come imperative. 

*lt  has  been  estimated  that  there  is  an  annual  loss  exceeding 
one  billion  feet  in  the  seasoning  of  lumber.  While  this  may  not 
be  a  complete  loss  in  the  sense  that  the  lumber  cannot  be  used, 
it  is  a  drain  upo'n  higher  quality  material  and  contributes  directly 
to  the  accumulation  of  low  grade  and  less  usable  lumber.  By  the 
introduction  of  proper  methods  of  kiln  drying,  it  should  be  pos- 
sible eventually  to  cut  that  loss  in  two." 

The  forest  resources  of  the  United  States  are  being  wasted 
and  destroyed.  In  a  few  years  they  will  be  exhausted  and  the 
country  will  face  a  lumber  famine.  This  state  of  affairs  is 
caused  by: 

Wasteful  and  destructive  methods  of  logging  a'nd  of  manu- 
facturing. 

Forest  fires. 

Failure  to  reforest  logged  off  areas. 
All  these  causes  have  their  roots  in  the  profit  system. 
The  capitalists  who  control  the  lumber  industry  are  con- 

48 


cerned  only  with  profits.  They  use  whatever  methods  will  pro- 
duce the  greatest  profits  in  the  shortest  time,  regardless  of  how 
much  they  waste  and  destroy. 

The  principal  cause  to  which  forest  fires  are  attributed  is 
carelessness  and  indifference  on  the  part  of  the  public  in  co- 
operating with  the  authorities  to  enforce  fire  prevention  laws. 
In  view  of  the  fact  that  four-fifths  of  the  timber  land  of  the 
United  States  is  privately  owned  and  that  practically  all  of  this 
was  obtained  by  fraudulent  means,  it  is  hardly  to  be  expected 
that  the  public  will  display  very  great  interest  in  protecting  the 
stolen  property  of  the  Lumber  Trust. 

Re-forestation  is  not  an  attractive  proposition  to  profit-mon- 
gers. It  involves  a  large  outlay  at  the  start.  From  sixty  to  one 
hundred  years  must  elapse  after  the  planting  of  young  trees  be- 
fore they  are  of  saw  timber  size.  Then  there  is  the  risk  of  fire 
and  the  possibility  of  a  change  in  the  social  order.  From  the 
view-point  of  the  capitalist,  it  is  much  better  to  let  the  Govern- 
ment use  the  money  of  the  ''people"  for  re-forestation  and  then, 
when  the  timber  is  ready  to  be  cut,  hand  it  over  to  the  Lumber 
Trust  to  sell  to  the  ''people"  at  100  per  cent  profit.  Besides  this, 
there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that,  in  the  past,  the  big  timber 
thieves  used  their  influence  to  prevent  re-forestation,  in  order  to 
increase  the  value  of  their  own  holdings. 


49 


CHAPTER  7. 


LABOR  CONDITIONS  IN  THE  LUMBER  INDUSTRY. 

OWING  to  the  "nature  of  the  industry  conditions  for  loggers 
diff  er  considerably  from  those  of  most  workers.  Situated  in 
thinly  settled  forest  regions,  lumber  camps  are,  to  a  great 
extent,  cut  off  from  civilization.  The  resulting  conditions  are  a 
peculiar  mixture  of  capitalism  and  feudalism,  civilization  and 
barbarism.  Each  camp  is  a  community  by  itself — a  unit  in  the 
industrial  empire  of  the  Lumber  Trust — and  is  ruled  by  a  fore- 
man who  has  the  powers  of  a  petty  czar.  The  compa'ny  not  only 
plays  the  part  of  employer  but  also  that  of  hotel  and  store 
keeper.  In  supplying  food  and  shelter  they  have  a  complete 
monopoly,  and  are  practically  free  from  all  restriction  which  or- 
dinarily apply  to  hotel  and  restaurant  keepers.  Sanitary  condi- 
tons  which  prevail  in  camps  would  not  be  tolerated  elsewhere; 
in  towns  or  cities  they  would  be  a  menace  to  the  health  of  society, 
which  means  the  "better  classes"  or  bourgeois  element.  But  the 
welfare  of  workers  is  of  no  consideration.  Intelligent  stock  breed- 
ers feed  their  cattle  and  hogs  scientifically,  and  house  them  in 
sanitary  quarters,  for  they  are  articles  of  value.  But  wage  slaves 
have  no  value;  consequently  they  have  no  protection  unless  they 
are  organized  to  protect  themselves.  In  isolated  places  where 
the  greed  of  capitalism  is  unrestricted  by  considerations  of  pub- 
lic health  and  safety,  and  unchecked  by  working  class  organiza- 
tion, conditions  fall  below  the  minimum  of  civilizatio'n  and  can 
only  be  described  as  barbarous.  Few  of  the  characteristics  that 
distinguish  the  present  century  from  the  dark  ages  are  found  in 
lumber  camps.  These  camps  are  monuments  to  the  greed  of  the 
lumber  barons  and  the  servile  submission  of  the  workers. 

In  the  average  unorganized  camp  the  food  is  of  the  cheap, 
adulterated  variety.  The  meat  ru'ns  heavy  to  sausage  and  liver. 
Some  years  ago  government  investigation  of  the  packing  houses 
laid  bare  the  inside  facts  of  sausage  making.  Only  meat  unfit 
for  any  other  use  goes  into  sausages.  Slunk  calves,  diseased 
chunks  of  meat  cut  from  "lumpy-jawed'*  cattle,  and  dead  rats, 
are  all  ground  up  together,  preserved,  colored,  and  flavored  with 
chemicals,  and  put  up  in  the  form  of  sausages.  In  the  words  of 
Upton  Sinclair  in  "The  Jungle,"  "There  are  things  that  go  into 
sausages  in  comparison  with  which  a  poisoned  rat  is  a  tid-bit." 
The  same  conditions  prevail  today.  These  "foods"  are  consumed 
entirely  by  workers.  Their  manufacture  is  highly  profitable,  so 
it  will  continue  till  the  workers  themselves  put  a  stop  to  it. 

Soggy  hot-cakes  and  syrup,  rancid  oleomargarine,  cheap  imi- 
tations labeled  jams  and  jellies,  dried  or  canned  fruit,  canned 

50 


RESULT  OF  DESTRUCTIVE  LOGGING  IN  DOUGLAS  FIR  REGION,  WHERE  NO 
EFFORT  IS  MADE  TO  SECURE  A  NEW  CROP. 


peas,  canned  milk,  pies  and  puddings  colored  and  flavored  with 
chemical  poisons,  constitute  a  large  part  of  the  bill  of  fare. 

The  hot  cakes  are  made  with  baking  powder,  the  principal 
ingredient  of  which  is  alum.  Alum  ruins  the  stomach  by  hard- 
ening its  coat,  drying  up  the  digestive  juices  and  destroying  their 
active  principle.  The  cheap  pickles  usually  served  in  camps  are 
also  adulterated  with  alum.  The  syrup,  prunes  and  other  dried 
fruits  are  bleached  and  preserved  with  sulphurous  acid. 

Dr.  J.  C.  Olson,  Professor  of  Chemistry  at  the  Polytechnic 
Institute,  Brookly'n,  introduced  sulphurous  acid  into  the  food  of 
dogs  and  watched  them  closely  for  six  months.  Then  they  were 
chloroformed  and  cut  open  and  their  kidneys  placed  under  the 
microscope.  In  every  instance  the  result  was  the  same.  The  lens 
revealed  the  degeneration  of  the  kidney  ceils.  They  had  broken 
down.  Sulphurous  acid  was  fou'nd  to  be  deadly  to  the  kidneys 
of  dogs.  It  produces  equally  injurious  effects  on  the  human  or- 
gans. Dr.  Wiley  after  his  clinical  experiments  in  the  Bureau  of 
Chemistry  denounced  the  use  of  sulphurous  acid  as  an  ingredient 
of  foods  and  showed  by  medical  and  pathological  data  that  it 
produces  serious  injury  to  digestion  and  health.  His  fi'ndings 
were  reported  in  circular  No.  37,  issued  by  the  Department  of 
Agriculture.  That  circular  stated  plainly  that  sulphurous  acid 
in  the  food  adds  an  immense  burden  to  the  kidneys,  which  can- 
not fail  to  result  in  injury.  It  impoverishes  the  blood  in  respect 
to  the  number  of  red  and  white  corpuscles  therein,  and  in  that 
way  is  highly  injurious. 


51 


Cheap  jams,  jellies  and  preserves  are  made  from  rotten 
fruits,  treated  with  glucose,  sweetened  with  saccharine  (a  coal 
t^r  product) ,  colored  with  coal  tar  dyes,  and  preserved  with  tar- 
taric acid,  benzoic  acid,  and  phosphoric  acid. 

Canned  pears  are  adulterated  with  glucose,  cane  sugar,  cop- 
per sulphate  and  tin. 

The  lemon  pie  contains  glycerine,  glucose,  oil  of  lemon, 
starch,  coal  tar  dye,  benzoate  of  soda,  and  wood  alcohol. 

To  disguise  the  taste  of  putrid  meat  and  add  flavor  to  taste- 
less, unpalatable  food,  tomato  catsup  and  other  cheap  condi- 
ments are  provided.  Cheap  tomato  catsup  and  chili  sauce  are 
made  from  tomato  pulp,  which  the  government  has  repeatedly 
condemned  because  it  is  found  to  contain  millio'ns  of  bacteria  to 
the  cubic  centimeter.  Ninety  million  such  bacteria  have  been 
found  in  a  half  teaspoonful.  Tomato  pulp  is  a  waste  product 
prepared  from  the  skins  and  cores  and  sweepings  of  the  canni'ng 
factory.  In  its  partly  decomposed  state  it  is  scraped  from  the 
floor,  put  into  kegs  and  treated  with  an  antiseptic  to  prevent 
further  putrefaction.  It  then  goes  into  storage  to  be  used  as 
needed  in  the  making  of  cheap  condiments.  The  Government 
characterizes  such  tomato  pulp  as  consisting  in  whole  or  in  part 
of  a  filthy  and  decomposed  vegetable  substance.  It  is  made  ''fit 
for  food"  by  the  introduction  of  the  sacred  one-tenth  of  one  per- 
cent of  benzoate  of  soda. 

Ancient  cold  storage  meat  is  treated  with  sulphites  a'nd  salt- 
petre to  give  it  a  fresh  color.  As  much  sulphites  as  can  be  lifted 
on  the  tip  of  a  penknife  would  cause  one  to  strangle  if  placed  on 
the  tongue.  Saltpetre  disintegrates  the  liver  and  breaks  down 
the  kidney  cells. 

Lack  of  space  forbids  mention  of  the  many  other  chemical 
poisolis  used  to  adulterate  the  cheap  fakes  fed  to  workers  in 
camps,  or  description  of  their  injurious  effects.  Old  accumula- 
tions of  packing  houses  and  cold  storage  plants,  too  rotten  to  be 
disposed  of  in  any  other  way,  are  sold  cheap  to  contractors  and 
lumber  companies.  It  is  no  wonder  the  average  worker  is  pre- 
maturely aged  and  stiffened  at  forty,  for  he  is  under'nourished 
from  lack  of  essential  food  elements,  and  his  internal  organs  are 
ruined  by  the  chemical  poisons  in  adulterated  food. 

Cheapness  is  the  main  consideration  in  buying  food,  and  the 
same  is  true  of  hiring  cooks.  Inferior  cooks  are  cheaper,  hence 
they  are  more  common,  and  bad  food  is  made  still  worse  by  bad 
cooking. 

The  bunk-houses  are  dirty,  unsanitary  and  overcrowded.  Men 
are  packed  like  sardines  i'n  double  bunks  built  in  two  tiers,  one 
above  the  other.  Figure  out  the  number  of  cubic  feet  of  air  space 
in  .a  bunk-house  and  divide  this  by  the  number  of  men.  In  most 
cases  it  will  be  found  the  amount  of  air  space  per  man  is  only  a 
fraction  of  the  minimum  specified  by  government  health  author- 
ities. In  some  camps  mattresses  are  provided,  but  in  most  the 
bunks  are  filled  with  hay  which  was  put  in  when  the  camp  was 
built,  and  never  changed  since.  Except  in  some  parts  of  the 
Northwest,  neither  sheets  nor  pillows  are  furnished,  so  a  man 


52 


HOW  A  SINGLE  FIRE  CAN  DESTROY  A  MATURE  FOREST 


comes  directly  in  contact  with  the  blankets,  which  are  seldom 
or  never  washed.  Men  are  constantly  coming  and  going,  thus 
many  different  men  use  the  same  blankets  during  a  season.  This 
constitutes  an  ideal  method  of  spreading  disease.  If  a  man  has 
syphilitic  sores  on  his  body,  the  chances  are  he  will  leave  the  in- 
fection on  the  blankets  to  be  caught  by  those  who  follow.  In  the 
Northwest  it  used  to  be  the  custom  to  carry  blankets,  but  the 
strike  of  1917  abolished  this  practice,  except  in  a  few  localities. 
Many  camps  are  infested  with  lice  and  the  only  way  a  man  can 
hold  these  pests  in  check  is  to  wash  ,and  boil  his  clothes  every 
week. 

No  drying  rooms  are  furnished.  Wet  clothing  is  hung  around 
the  bunk-house  stove  and  the  steam  and  odor  from  this  add  to 
the  foulness  of  the  stag'nant  air.  The  bunks  close  to  the  stove 
are  too  hot,  while  those  farthest  away  are  often  too  cold.  A 
man  sleeping  next  to  the  stove,  where  the  heat  is  like  that 
of  a  sweat-bath,  and  then  going  out  in  a  temperature  many  de- 
grees below  zero,  is  quite  sure  to  catch  a  severe  cold.  There  be- 
ing no  cuspidors,  the  custom  is  to  spit  on  the  floor,  which  at  bed 
time  is  covered  with  tobacco  juice  and  slime.  This  dries,  and 
when  the  floor  is  swept,  rises  and  settles  all  over  the  blankets. 
A  more  efiicie'nt  means  of  spreading  disease  could  scarcely  be 
devised.  As  an  aggravation  to  the  insanitary  conditions,  there 
are  dry,  open  toilets  a  few  yards  from  the  cook-shacks.  In  cold 
weather  these  are  practically  harmless,  but  in  summer,  swarms 
of  flies  carry  their  filth  and  infection  to  every  part  of  the  camp. 
Piles  of  rotten  garbage  around  the  cook-house  door  furnish  an 
ideal  breeding  ground  for  these  carriers  of  disease. 

Until  a  few  years  ago  bath-houses  in  camps  were  unheard  of 
and  the  great  majority  are  still  without  them.   A  few  dim,  smoky 


53 


oil  lamps  make  a  feeble  attempt  to,  light  the  bunk-house,  but 
their  light  is  so  poor  that  reading  is  practically  impossible.  Thus 
a  man  is  deprived  of  this  means  of  cultivating  his  mind  or  passing 
the  time  in  his  few  short  hours  of  leisure. 

A  man  living  in  these  surroundings  is  reduced  to  the  level  of 
a  work  animal,  and  a  poor  one  at  that,  for  it  would  not  pay  to 
keep  valuable  stock  i'n  such  a  condition.  Today  there  are  many 
thousands  of  the  most  useful  and  necessary  workers  living  in  this 
state  of  barbarism  in  the  midst  of  civilization. 

The  above  description  applies  to  the  great  majority  of  lum- 
ber camps  in  the  United  States  and  Canada.  In  the  Pacific-North- 
west, where  a  large  percentage  of  lumber  workers  are  organized, 
conditions  are  much  better  than  the  average.  Sweeping  reforms 
were  brought  about  by  the  1917  strike.  Bunk-houses  are  smaller 
and  less  crowded.  Sheets  and  pillows  are  furnished,  and  there 
are  bath-houses  and  drying  rooms. 

One  of  the  things  that  distinguishes  the  present  century  from 
the  dark  ages  is  modern  sanitation.  By  this  mealis  smallpox, 
bubonic  plague,  cholera  and  the  black  plague  of  London,  which 
devastated  Europe  in  past  centuries,  have  been  stamped  out. 
Modern  sanitation  has  eradicated  yellow  fever  from  New  Or- 
leans and  Havana,  and  made  the  Panama  Canal  Zone  a  safe  and 
healthy  place  for  white  men  to  live.  The  Red  Cross  and  other 
organizations  are  carrying  on  campaigns  against  the  modern 
plagues  of  tuberculosis  and  syphilis.  In  practically  all  towns 
and  cities  spitting  on  the  sidewalk  is  forbidden.  In  many  States 
the  public  drinking  cup  and  the  roller  towel  are  outlawed  as 
spreaders  of  disease. 

In  all  States  there  are  laws  providing  for  sanitary  conditions 
in  hotels  and  rooming  houses.  The  following  extracts  are  from 
those  of  Wisconsin: 

Rule  XL — Bedding. 

(a)  All  hotels  shall  hereafter  provide  each  bed,  bunk,  cot  or 
other  sleeping  place  for  the  use  of  tra'nsient  guests,  with  white 
cotton  or  linen  pillow  slips,  top  and  under  sheets,  also  mattress, 
and  a  reasonably  sufficient  quantity  of  bedding. 

(b)  The  top  and  under  sheet  to  be  of  sufficient  size  to  com- 
pletely cover  the  mattress  and  fold  under  on  sides  and  ends. 
Both  sheets  after  January  1,  1918,  must  be  at  least  ninety-six 
inches  long  after  being  laundered. 

(d)  The  long  top  sheet  is  to  be  folded  back  at  the  head  of  the 
bed  so  as  to  cover  all  top  coverings  at  least  twelve  inches. 

(e)  All  bedding,  including  mattresses,  quilts,  blankets,  sheets 
a'nd  comforts  used  in  any  hotel  must  be  thoroly  aired  and  kept 
clean.  No  bedding  shall  be  used  which  is  worn  out  and  unfit  for 
further  use.  Pillow  slips  and  sheets  must  be  washed  and  ironed 
as  often  as  they  shall  be  assigned  to  a  different  guest. 

There  are  also  laws  regulating  ventilation,  air  space,  toilets, 
disposal  of  garbage,  etc. ;  and  prohibiting  overcrowding.  Surely 
sanitary  co'nditions  are  just  as  necessary  in  camps  as  in  hotels. 
Yet,  just  because  they  are  profitable  to  a  handful  of  parasites, 
such  conditions  as  described   above  are  permitted  to  continue. 


54 


MAINE  LOGGING  CAMP 


If  the  various  state  boards  of  health  were  honest  and  efficient 
such  disease  breeding  plague  spots  would  be  cleaned  up  in  short 
order.  But  no  relief  can  be  expected  from  that  source,  for  boards 
of  health,  like  other  governme'nt  institutions,  are  controlled  by- 
big  business.  Sanitary  regulations  will  never  be  enforced  in 
camps  till  the  workers  themselves  enforce  them  by  their  or- 
ganized economic  power. 

On  ordinary  jobs,  when  the  day's  work  is  done,  a  man  is  free 
to  do  as  he  pleases  within  the  limits  of  the  law,  to  go  where  he 
likes  and  associate  with  whom  he  sees  fit.  Not  so  in  a  lumber 
camp.  The  lumberjack  is  at  all  times  u'nder  the  domination  of 
the  "push,"  who  in  many  cases  dictates  what  he  shall  say  or 
read  and  with  whom  he  shall  associate.  Disobedience  in  these 
matters  means  discharge.  In  most  places  visitors  suspected  of 
being  union  men  or  "agitators"  are  ordered  out  of  camp.  In  this 
way  a  logging  camp  forcibly  reminds  one  of  a  penitentiary. 

The  lumberjacks'  work  is  hard  and  da'ngerous,  especially  in 
big  timber  regions.  The  annual  percentage  of  men  killed  and 
injured  is  high.  For  the  great  majority  of  lumber  workers  ten 
hours  is  the  work  day.  In  addition  to  this  there  is  often  a  long 
walk  to  and  from  work.  In  places  where  there  is  a  strong  per- 
centage of  organization,  wages  compare  favorably  with  those 
in  other  industries.  Where  there  is  no  organization  they  are 
usually  far  below  the  level  of  a  decent  standard  of  livinf 


55 


Hospital  Fee, 


Each  man  is  forced  to  pay  a  monthly  tax  varying  from  $1.00 
to  $1.25.  This  is  known  as  a  hospital  fee  and  is  d^duaUd  from 
the  wages.  In  this  way  the  companies  collect  ma'ny  thougands  of 
dollars  every  month.  This  money  would  M  sufficient  to  build 
and  mamtam  first  class  hospitals,  equipped  in  the  most  modern 
style  with  the  best  doctors  and  nurses.  Instead  of  this,  com- 
pany hospitals  are  proverbial  for  their  Worthlessness.  Cheapness 
and  economy  are  the  main  considerations,  not  the  welfare  of  the 
men  w no  pay  for  them.  The  sacred  profits  of  the  companies 
"^^Ldt  not  be  diminished,  regardless  of  how  many  lumber  work- 
eTB  die  from  lack  of  medical  attention.  These  hospitals  are  usu- 
ally poorly  equipped  and  are  not  even  kept  in  a  sanitary  condi- 
tion, Incompete'nt  doctors  and  nurses  are  employed.  It  is  a  com- 
mon occurrence  for  a  man  to  go  to  a  company  hospital  suffering 
from  some  comparatively  slight  injury,  such  as  a  broken  limb^ 
which  by  proper  treatment  could  be  completely  cured  in  a  few 
weeks,  only  to  be  turned  out  a  permanent  cripple.  The  hospital 
tickets  state  that  no  treatment  will  be  give'n  except  for  injury 
sustained  or  disease  contracted  while  actually  in  the  employ  of 
the  company.  On  each  ticket  is  a  list  of  diseases  for  which  no 
treatment  will  be  given,  and  this  list  includes  all  diseases  a  lum- 
berjack is  likely  to  get.  If  good  hospital  accomodation  were  pro- 
vided there  would  be  no  objection  to  paying  this  fee.  But  as  it 
is,  by  far  the  greater  part  of  it  is  pure  and  simple  graft  for  the 
comri^-nies,  and  graft  of  the  meanest  and  most  contemptible  kind, 
fQx'  the  principal  victims  are  sick  and  injured  men.  It  is  bad 
enough  to  rob  men  of  a  dollar  a  month ;  that  is  simply  robbery. 
But  to  contract  to  furnish  a  man  hospital  accomodation  and  then 
Vhen  he  is  in  desperate  need  of  it  to  hand  him  worthless  treat- 
ment. Which  results  in  death  or  permanent  loss  of  health,  is  in- 
"finit^ly  worse.  That  is  murder;  not  committed  in  the  height  of 
passion,  but  cold-blooded  and  deliberate  murder,  systematically 
planned  and  carried  out  to  increase  profits. 

Employment  Sharks, 

Besides  the  robbery  and  exploitation  of  the  companies,  lum- 
ber workers  are  subjected  to  the  graft  of  employment  agents. 
These  petty  parasites  infest  all  cities  a'nd  towns.  Most  of  them 
are  conscienceless  swindlers,  and  their  victims  are  the  unem- 
ployed. In  many  camps  hiring  is  not  done  on  the  job,  but  thru 
employment  agents,  and  a  man  ca'nnot  go  to  work  unless  he 
brings  a  ticket  from,  one  of  these.  Grafting  foremen  frame  up 
with  these  sharks  and,  in  consideration  of  a  rake-off  from  the 
fee,  keep  hiring  and  firing,  thus  run'ning  their  job  on  the  "three 
gang  system,"  that  is,  one  gang  coming,  one  working,  and  the 
third  going  back  to  town  to  buy  more  jobs  from  the  employment 
sharks.  In  some  places  employment  age'nts  have  a  practical 
monopoly  of  jobs  and  it  is  almost  impossible  to  escape  paying 
them  tribute.   These  fakers  are  notoriously  dishonest.    They  lie 


56 


CAMP  DINING  ROOM 


about  wages  and  conditions.  Often  they  send  men  to  places 
where  none  are  needed,  thus  not  only  robbing  them  of  the  fee 
but  causing  them  to  lose  the  fare  as  well.  Foreigners  and  in- 
experienced youth  are  their  worst  victims.  It  is  practically  im- 
possible to  obtain  legal  redress,  as  the  workers  they  defraud 
lack  the  means  to  prosecute  them.  Besides,  these  parasites  are 
a  part  of  the  system,  they  are  useful  tools  of  the  big  lumber  com- 
panies and  receive  protection.  They  are  "business  men"  and 
tax  payers,  and  ''stand  in"  with  the  local  authorities ;  migratory 
workers  are  considered  their  legitimate  prey. 

The  great  majority  of  lumberjacks  are  single  men,  and  those 
who  are  married  are  separated  from  their  families  the  greater 
part  of  the  time.  This  is  principally  due  to  economic  conditions 
and  the  nature  of  the  industry  as  at  present  carried  on.  Separa- 
tion from  the  opposite  sex  is  not  conducive  to  physical  or  mental 
well-being.  The  mating  instruct  is  second  only  to  that  of  self- 
preservation.  Those  who  are  forced  to  suppress  this  instinct 
or  satisfy  it  by  visiting  prostitutes,  practically  all  of  whom  are 
venereally  diseased,  must  pay  the  penalty  nature  exacts  from  all 
who  fail  to  live  in  harmony  with  her  laws. 

The  Sawmill. 

Sawmill  work  is  more  highly  specialized  than  logging.  In 
this  branch  of  the  industry  machine  production  is  highly  devel- 
oped. The  sawmill  worker  is  a  machine  tender.  His  life  is  a 
weary,  monotonous  grind.  The  day's  work  consists  of  a  constant 
repetition  of  the  same  motions.  In  large,  modern  sawmills  the 
efficiency  or  speed-up  system  is  reduced  'to  a  fine  science.  The 


57 


INTERIOR  OF  A  BUNK-HOUSE 


pace  is  set  by  machinery  speeded  up  to  the  limit  of  human  en- 
durance. The  amount  of  skill  required  is  small,  speed  being 
the  main  requisite.  This  work  is  exceedingly  dangerous  and  ac- 
cide'nts  are  frequent.  Lumber  is  not  the  only  product  of  saw- 
mills. There  is  also  a  bountiful  harvest  of  cripples.  In  sawmill 
centers  maimed  and  mutilated  workers  are  so  common  they  ex- 
cite no  comment.  A  large  percentage  of  these  accidents  are  pre- 
ventable, but  installing  safety  devices  has  no  place  in  schemes  of 
profit  making. 

The  majority  of  sawmill  workers  are  men  with  families.  The 
companies  prefer  these  for  they  are  more  easily  controlled  alid 
less  apt  to  organize  or  strike.  A  close  watch  is  kept  to  prevent 
unionism  from  gaining  a  foothold.  Stool-pigeons,  spies,  company 
suckers  and  gunmen  infest  all  sawmill  towns.  The  majority  of 
sawmill  workers  secretly  favor  unionism,  but  fear  of  discharge 
and  the  blacklist  preve'nts  them  from  becoming  active.  In  most 
sawmill  towns  the  companies  own  everything  in  sight.  The 
workers  live  in  company  houses.  Often  they  are  forced  to  trade 
at  the  company's  store,  and  in  some  places  never  get  out  of  debt. 
Many  schemes  are  worked  to  keep  them  more  effectively  in  the 
power  of  the  companies.  Some  companies  do  a  real  estate  bus- 
iness as  a  side  li'ne,  and  sell  lots  to  their  employes  at  so  much 
down,  and  so  much  per.  If  they  miss  a  payment  the  property 
reverts  to  the  company  and  they  lose  all  previous  payments. 
Sometimes  workers  with  families  are  induced  to  come  from  dis- 
tant places  by  false  promises  and  glowing  accounts  of  wages  and 
conditions.  When  they  reach  the  mill-town  and  find  out  they 
have  been  deceived,  they  are  broke  and  perhaps  in  debt  to  the 
company,  and  unable  to  get  away. 


58 


In  sawmill  towns  industrial  feudalism  holds  sway.  The  lum- 
ber companies,  by  reason  of  their  control  of  industry,  hold  the 
whip  hand  and  rule  with  a  rod  of  iron.  Sheriffs  and  chiefs  of 
police  eat  out  of  their  hand,  and  the  small  business  element 
hastens  to  do  their  bidding.  Often  municipal  and  county  office 
holders  are  employes  of  the  company,  or  economically  depend- 
ent on  it  in  some  way,  and  thus  completely  under  its  control.  And 
as  si'ngle  companies  control  local  officials,  and  petty  governments 
of  town  and  county,  so  the  combined  companies,  organized  in 
the  Lumber  Trust,  in  conjunction  with  other  big  financial  and 
industrial  interests,  control  the  state  and  iiational  governments 
and  constitute  themselves  the  real  government.  In  the  words  of 
Woodrow  Wilson  in  "The  New  Freedom,'*  "the  masters  of  the 
government  of  the  United  States  are  the  combined  capitalists  and 
manufacturers  of  the  United  States." 

The  thousands  of  men  who  do  work  in  the  lumber  industry 
are  reduced  to  a  state  of  economic  independence  and  servitude, 
kept  constantly  on  the  ragged  edge  of  want,  and  denied  oppor- 
tunity to  live  as  nature  inte'nded.  The  few  capitalists  who  con- 
trol the  industry  are  possessed  of  great  wealth  and  power  and 
enabled  to  live  in  luxury  and  extravagance  unequaled  in  the 
history  of  the  world. 

In  the  days  of  the  ox  team  and  the  whip-saw  the  daily  output 
of  lumber  was  only  a  few  feet  per  man.  But  the  workers  re- 
ceived enough  to  maintain  life  and  reproduce  their  kind.  They 
lived  a  rough  and  healthy  life  and  their  food  was  the  plain  and 
wholesome  product  of  the  farm.  Notwithstanding  vastly  in- 
creased production,  all  the  modern  wage  workers  get  is  a  bare 
existence.  They  are  doped  and  poisoned  with  the  product  of 
the  chemical  laboratory,  speeded  up  to  the  limit  of  endurance, 
and  are  worn  out  and  aged  when  they  should  be  in  their  prime. 

Notwithstanding  their  immense  profits  the  lumber  companies 
claim  they  cannot  afford  to  give  better  wages  or  conditions.  But 
it  is  not  the  greed  of  the  lumber  barons  that  is  to  blame  for  con- 
ditions. They  are  in  business,  not  for  charitable  purposes,  but 
to  make  profits.  It  is  the  ignora'nce,  cowardice  and  indifference 
of  the  workers  that  gives  the  Lumber  Trust  its  power  and  makes 
possible  the  oppression  from  which  they  suffer.  It  is  the  law  of 
nature  that  the  strong  rule  and  the  weak  are  enslaved.  The 
secret  of  power  is  organization.  The  only  force  that  can  break 
the  tyrannical  rule  of  the  Lumber  Trust  is  One  Big  Union  of  all 
the  workers. 


59 


CHAPTER  8. 


ORGANIZATION. 


LL  wealth  is  produced  by  labor  being  applied  to  the  natural 


resources  of  the  earth.  Wherever  labor  a'nd  natural  resources 


come  together,  there  industry  springs  up — a  job  comes  into 
existence.  The  wealth  produced  on  the  job  is  divided  in  two  ways. 
Part  goes  to  the  workers  in  the  form  of  wages  and  part  to  the 
capitalists  in  the  form  of  profits.  The  share  of  each  is  determined 
by  the  amount  of  control  they  exert  over  the  job.  On  every  job 
there  are  two  conflicting  interests.  The  capitalist  wants  to  make 
the  biggest  possible  profits  in  the  shortest  possible  time.  To  ac- 
complish this  he  must  get  as  much  as  possible  out  of  the  workers 
a'nd  must  give  them  as  little  as  possible.  He  wants  hard  work, 
long  hours,  low  wages,  and  low  running  expenses,  which  make 
rotten  conditions.  The  workers  are  on  the  job  to  make  a  living. 
They  want  to  make  as  good  and  as  easy  a  living  as  they  can.  To 
this  end  they  must  have  short  hours,  high  wages,  easy  work  and 
good  conditio'ns.  This  conflict  of  interest  is  the  cause  of  the 
struggle  that  goes  on  between  workers  and  employers — the  class 
struggle. 

In  this  as  in  all  struggles  the  side  with  the  most  power  will 
win.  The  secret  of  power  is  organization.  The  captalists  are  few 
in  number.  They  do  no  useful  work  but  live  as  parasites  off  the 
labor  of  the  workers.  They  are  entirely  unnecessary  to  the  run- 
ning of  Industry.  They  perform  no  useful  function  in  society. 
But  they  are  organized,  and  by  virtue  of  their  organized  power 
they  control  the  natural  resources  of  the  earth  and  the  machinery 
of  production,  and  only  allow  the  workers  access  to  them  on  con- 
dition that  they  can  make  a  profit  off  their  labor. 

The  workers  are  absolutely  necessary  to  run'ning  industry. 
They  furnish  the  labor  power  without  which  not  a  wheel  would 
turn.  But  they  do  not  control  their  own  labor  power  because 
only  a  small  percentage  are  organized.  Being  forced  to  deal  as 
individuals  with  the  organized  power  of  the  capitalists  they  are 
helpless  and  have  to  accept  whatever  conditions  the  employers 
see  fit  to  impose  on  them.  On  all  jobs  where  the  workers  are  un- 
organized their  standing  is  little  better  than  that  of  work  animals 
— or  cattle.  They  only  receive  enough  in  the  form  of  wages  to 
enable  them  to  keep  in  working  condition,  just  as  a  four-legged 
beast  of  burden  is  fed  enough  hay  and  grain  to  e'nable  him  to 
furnish  motive  power  for  his  master's  wagon.  If  an  individual 
worker  voices  a  protest  he  is  discharged.  This  causes  no  incon- 
venience to  the  boss,  for  it  is  easy  to  get  another  to  take  his 
place. 


60 


But  when  the  workers  begin  to  organize,  a  change  takes 
place.  When  all  the  workers  on  a  job,  or  even  a  fair  percentage 
of  them,  make  demands  the  boss  cannot  discharge  them  without 
shutting  down  or  seriously  crippling  his  job.  Fear  of  stopping 
or  reducing  his  profits  forces  him  to  make  concessions.  He  will 
try  to  compromise.  Just  how  much  he  will  concede  depends  en- 
tirely on  the  strength  of  the  workers'  organization.  Where  the 
workers  are  unorga'nized  there  are  two  contending  forces — that 
of  Labor  and  that  of  Capital.  Unorganized,  the  workers  are 
powerless  and  must  tamely  submit.  With  organization  they  gain 
power  and  are  able  to  dispute  the  control  of  the  capitalist.  Hence, 
where  the  workers  are  organized,  hours,  wages  and  conditions 
are  always  better  than  on  unorga'nized  jobs.  Provided,  of  course, 
the  workers'  organization-  is  genuine  and  not  a  fake,  controlled 
by  the  bosses. 

Workers  Organized  to  Produce. 

Organization  is  the  keynote  of  power  and  success.  Without 
organization  nothi'ng  worth  while  can  be  accomplished.  Even 
wild  animals  and  birds  know  enough  to  organize  for  mutual  pro- 
tection. By  organization  and  co-operation  primitive  man  was 
able  to  overcome  the  beasts  and  reptiles  of  the  primeval  forest, 
and  rise  to  civilization.  Without  the  workers  being  organized 
to  carry  on  industry,  production  would  stop  and  the  world  would 
go  back  to  savagery. 

When  a  man  goes  to  work  in  the  woods  his  object  is  to  get 
wages — money.  He  wants  to  make  a  "stake"  and  to  make  it  as 
big,  as  easily,  and  as  quickly  as  possible.  He  cares  nothing 
about  the  profits  of  his  employer.  When  a  lumber  company 
hires  me'n  to  work  in  the  woods  their  object  is  to  make  profits, 
and  to  that  end  they  must  get  out  logs.  They  are  not  concerned 
with  the  welfare  of  the  workers.  Thus  we  see  there  are  two  dis- 
tinct objects  to  be  accomplished — ^that  of  the  workers  "organ- 
ized"— arranged  in  interdependent  groups  each  co-operating 
systematically  with  the  other  so  as  to  work  to  the  best  advantage 
and  produce  the  greatest  results.  One  set  of  men  fall  the  trees. 
Others  cut  them  up  into  logs.  O'ne  man  acts  as  hook  tender; 
others  set  the  chokers.  A  fireman  keeps  up  steam  in  the  boiler, 
and  the  engineer  runs  the  donkey.  Some  load  the  logs  on  cars 
and  the  railroad  crew  haul  them  out  of  the  woods.  Some  act  as 
(riggers,  and  some  as  cooks  and  flunkeys.  The  whole  crew  is 
working  together  systematically  to  get  out  logs — to  accomplish 
the  object  of  the  company — and  they  work  successfully.  They 
get  out  many  logs  and  make  big  profits  for  the  compa'ny  because 
they  are  organized  for  that  purpose. 

Suppose  the  same  number  of  men  were  to  go  into  the  woods, 
and  instead  of  working  in  an  organized  manner,  each  one  was 
to  work  as  an  individual.  Suppose  each  carried  in  his  own  tools, 
his  own  food  and  his  own  cook-stove;  built  his  own  shack,  did 
his  own  cooking,  cut  his  own  roads,  and  tried  to  get  out  logs  all 
by  himself.     How  much  headway  would  they  make?    We  all 


61 


know  they  would  accomplish  practically  nothing.  If  a  boss  put 
men  to  work  that  way  they  would  consider  him  insane.  They 
would  not  accomplish  his  object  of  making  profits.  Yet  that  is 
exactly  how  the  great  majority  of  men  go  to  work  to  accomplish 
their  own  object.  Have  unorganized  men  a'ny  reason  to  consider 
themselves  sane?  They  co-operate  systematically  to  produce 
wealth  for  their  employers,  but  not  to  protect  their  own  interests. 
Small  wonder  hours  are  long,  wages  low  and  conditions  rotten. 

Occasionally  we  hear  of  a  number  of  men  breaking  out  of 
jail,  but  who  ever  heard  of  such  a  break  from  a  lu'natic  asylum? 
It  takes  organized  action  to  break  out  of  captivity,  and  it  is  a 
well-known  fact  that  lunatics  never  organize. 

Industry  Run  Entirely  by  Workers. 

The  workers  in  each  camp  co-operate  to  get  out  logs.  Each 
camp  is  a  unit  in  the  producing  organization  composed  of  work- 
ers and  controlled  to  supply  the  sawmills.  The  production  and 
distribution  of  lumber  is  carried  on  by  the  co-operation  of  log- 
gers, railroad  men  and  sawmill  workers.  These  producing  organ- 
izations are  composed  entirely  of  workers,  either  by  hand  or 
brain.  Foremen,  superintendents  and  general  managers  are  all 
workers,  as  well  as  the  me'n  who  do  the  actual  manual  labor  on 
the  job.  To  the  extent  that  they  take  part  in  managing  and  or- 
ganizing industry  they  are  useful  and  necessary,  but  their  re- 
muneration is  usually  out  of  proportion  to  the  value  of  the  work 
they  perform.  In  this  way  they  are  subsidized  or  bribed  by  the 
company  to  prevent  them  from  combining  with  the  other  work- 
ers to  take  co'ntrol  of  industry.  These  company  officials  are  known 
as  salaried  workers  and  are  usually  part  workers  and  part  para- 
sites. As  a  rule  the  higher  officials  of  a  company  are  also  stock- 
holders, and  to  the  extent  that  they  draw  dividends  they  are 
parasites.  The  work  of  a  general  manager  may  be  worth  $10,- 
000  a  year,  but  if  he  receives  a  salary  of  $100,000  a  year  then 
he  is  10  per  cent  worker  and  90  per  cent  parasite.  If  in  addition 
to  his  salary  he  draws  dividends  of  $100,000  a  year  then  he  is 
5  per  cent  worker  and  95  per  cent  parasite.  Besides  performing 
their  useful  and  legitimate  function  of  managing  industry  these 
officials,  under  the  present  system,  play  the  part  of  slave-drivers 
to  speed  up  the  workers  and  produce  the  greatest  possible  profits 
for  their  masters.  They  are  also  used  to  spy  upon  the  other 
workers  and  prevent  them  from  organizing.  But  altho  the  work- 
ers are  divided  and  some  are  used  in  a  maimer  detrimental  to  the 
others,  the  fact  remains  that  industry  is  run  entirely  by  the 
workers. 

How  Industry  is  Controlled. 

Each  camp  is  controlled  by  a  foreman,  who  in  turn  is  con- 
trolled by  a  walking  boss  or  superintendent.  Each  department 
of  a  sawmill  is  controlled  by  a  foreman,  and  control  of  these  is 
centralized  in  the  hands  of  the  superintendent.  Logging  and 
sawmill  superintendents  are  controlled  by  the  general  manager 


62 


from  the  head  office  of  the  company.  The  general  manager  is 
controlled  by  the  board  of  directors,  the  members  of  which  are 
usually  large  stockholders;  and  the  board  of  directors  is  con- 
trolled by  the  stockholders.  Thus  industry  is  run  by  workers 
and  controlled  by  parasite's.  Under  the  present  system  all  offi- 
cials, from  straw-bosses  to  general  managers,  are  rated  by  their 
ability  to  gri'nd  profits  out  of  the  workers. 

Hundred  Per  Cent  Parasites. 

While  a  small  amount  of  stock  may  be  held  by  individuals 
who  are  part  workers  and  part  parasites,  by  far  the  greater  part 
is  held,  and  all  control  exercised,  by  one-hundred-percent  para- 
sites. For  instance,  a  person  may  hold  millions  of  dollars  worth 
of  stock  in  the  Lumber  Trust,  but  take  absolutely  no  part  in  the 
manageme'nt  of  the  industry.  His  sole  occupation  is  drawing 
dividends.  He  may  never  even  have  seen  a  logging  camp  or  a 
sawmill.  Such  people  live  in  million  dollar  mansions  or  swell 
hotels,  surrounded  by  luxury  and  extravagance.  They  have  resi- 
dences in  different  parts  of  the  world,  and  migrate  from  one  to 
a'nother  with  the  changing  seasons.  They  travel  in  palatial  steam 
yachts,  luxurious  Pullmans  and  high-priced  touring  cars. 

When  the  lumber  worker  is  wading  thru  snow  with  the 
thermometer  40  below  zero,  or  slinging  heavy  rigging  thru  mud 
and  rain,  he  may  find  some  comfort  in  the  thought  that  high- 
rolling  parasites  who  live  off  the  product  of  his  labor  are  playing 
golf  at  Palm  Beach  or  sailing  on  the  sunny  waters  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean. Or  when  trying  to  sleep  in  a  filthy,  insanitary,  vermin- 
infested  bunk-house,  inhaling  the  stench  of  drying  socks  and  the 
sicke'ning  germ-laden  odor  from  the  slime-covered  floor,  it  may 
be  an  inspiring  thought  to  the  "timberbeast"  that  in  a  palatial 
mansion  in  a  land  of  perpetual  summer  where  the  soft  night 
breezes  waft  the  perfume  of  roses  and  honeysuckle  thru  the 
open  windows,  tended  by  liveried  lackeys,  entertained  by  the 
entrancing  strains  of  an  all-star  orchestra,  sated  with  rare  wines 
and  costly  foods,  and  surrounded  by  amorous,  languorous-eyed 
females,  his  masters  are  holding  a  "brilliant  society  function." 
When  a  lumber  worker  is  unable  to  keep  his  family  in  dece'ncy 
or  is  condemned  thru  poverty  to  a  life  of  "single  blessedness," 
let  him  ponder  the  fact  that  his  labor  makes  it  possible  for  some 
parastic  timber-thief  to  buy  a  diamond  necklace  for  his  lady 
friend's  lap-dog;  and  that  lack  of  organization  on  the  part  of 
lumber  workers  makes  this  state  of  affairs  possible. 

While  the  old  financial  pirates  who  stole  the  timber  lands 
were  me'n  of  criminal  instincts  and  anti-social  character,  it  can- 
not be  denied  they  had  shrewdness  and  ability.  But  the  descend- 
ants of  these  men  who  inherit  their  vast  wealth,  enjoy  it  without 
having  made  the  slightest  effort  to  gain  it,  and  wield  the  enorm- 
ous power  it  places  in  their  hands,  may  be  entirely  lacking  in 
ability  of  any  kind — may  even  be  degenerates  of  the  Harry  Thaw 
type. 


63 


How  the  Parasites  are  Organized. 

The  capitalists  are  organized,  not  to  produce  wealth  but  to 
separate  the  workers  from  the  wealth  they  produce.  They  are 
the  robber  class.  By  fraud  and  violence  they  have  stolen  the 
natural  resources  and  the  machinery  of  production  and  by  fraud 
and  violence  they  hold  the  workers  in  subjection  and  continue 
to  rob  them.  In  most  industries  the  capitalists  are  organized 
into  trusts  by  means  of  which  they  reduce  competition  among 
themselves  to  a  minimum.  Those  industries  which  are  not  trusti- 
fied and  in  which  the  majority  of  the  employers  are  small,  such 
as  agriculture,  are  controlled  by  trusts  in  other  industries  on 
which  they  are  dependent,  such  as  the  railroad  trust,  the  pack- 
ing-house trust,  the  harvester  trust,  and  the  banki'ng  trust.  These 
trusts,  by  controlling  transportation,  markets,  supply  of  agricult- 
ural machinery,  and  credit,  have  reduced  the  farmer  to  a  condi- 
tion in  which  he  is  just  as  effectually  exploited  as  a  wage  worker. 
The  various  great  combinations  of  capital  are  all  interlinked  by 
means  of  common  ownership  of  stock  and  interlocking  director- 
ates. While  there  may  be  many  thousands  of  stockholders  in 
the  different  companies  which  go  to  make  up  a  trust,  the  control 
is  centralized  into  the  hands  of  a  very  few  men  who  own  large 
blocks  of  stock.  By  means  of  ''rigging"  the  market  these  trust 
magnates  are  able  to  force  the  prices  of  stock  down  when  it  suits 
their  purpose  to  buy,  and  to  put  prices  up  when  they  are  ready 
to  "unload."  In  this  way  they  loot  and  plunder  the  smaller 
stockholders  who  are  known  in  Wall  Street  as  ''shorn  lambs." 
Another  way  in  which  the  big  stockholders  rob  the  small  ones 
is  by  forming  subsidiary  companies.  For  instance,  the  controlling 
stockholders  of  a  railroad  often  form  construction  companies, 
and  let  contracts  to  themselves  at  profiteering  prices. 

There  are  many  ways  in  which  the  interests  of  different 
groups  of  capitalists  conflict.  Where  such  is  the  case  the  ad- 
vantage always  rests  with  the  biggest  capitalists.  They  can  in- 
stall larger  and  more  expe'nsive  machinery,  manufacture  on  a 
larger  scale,  produce  cheaper  and  so  undersell  their  competitors 
till  they  put  them  out  of  business,  or  force  them  to  sell  out  at 
their  own  terms.  Great  financial  interests  which  control  rail- 
roads are  also  engaged  in  many  other  lines  of  business,  such  as 
lumber  and  mining,  and  they  can  stifle  competition  by  with- 
holding cars  from  their  rivals.  Big  capitalists  can  maintain  the 
strongest  lobbying  committees  at  Washington  and  are  better  able 
to  bribe  Congress  to  make  them  presents  of  the  natural  resources 
of  the  country.  Conseque'ntly  the  control  of  industry  is  constant- 
ly becoming  concentrated  into  fewer  and  fewer  hands,  and  in 
the  near  future  we  may  expect  to  see  control  of  the  industries  of 
all  countries  concentrated  into  the  hands  of  one  gigantic  world- 
wide trust. 

Altho  the  interests  of  capitalists  conflict  in  many  ways,  and 
big  capitalists  prey  on  small  ones,  their  interests  are  all  identical 
in  maintaining  the  system  by  which  they  rob  the  workers.  On 
this  point  they  all  recognize  their  community  of  interest,  and 


64 


display  solidarity.  To  protect  their  interests  as  a  class  and  to 
hold  the  workers  in  subjection  they  are  united  in  commercial 
clubs,  boards  of  trade,  chambers  of  commerce  and  similar  organ- 
izations of  a  class  liature. 

By  means  of  their  wealth  the  capitalists  control  the  govern- 
ment, press,  schools,  colleges,  churches,  theatres  and  moving 
picture  shows.  They  use  these  institutions  to  control  the  minds 
of  the  workers  and  prevent  them  from  realizing  their  true  posi- 
tion in  society.  By  control  of  the  press  and  the  means  of  com- 
munication, such  as  telegraph  and  telephone  lines,  they  suppress 
news  of  interest  to  the  workers,  or  distort  and  color  them  to  suit 
their  own  purposes.  By  false  teaching  and  cunningly  devised 
propaganda  they  make  the  workers  think  they  are  free  and  in- 
dependent "sovereign  citizens,''  while  as  a  matter  of  fact,  they 
are  dependent  for  their  very  existence  on  permission  to  toil  for 
a  master.  By  theoretically  placing  the  ballot  in  the  hands  of  all 
citizens  they  lend  an  appearance  of  truth  to  the  outworn  fallacy 
of  "government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  peo- 
ple." By  their  control  of  schools  and  colleges  they  propagate 
the  lie  of  ''equal  opportunity,''  and  teach  the  economic  falsehood 
that  the  interests  of  labor  and  capital  are  identical,  and  the  re- 
quisites for  success  are  honesty,  industry  and  loyalty  to  employ- 
ers. Subsidized  churches  preach  the  divine  right  of  property, 
and  counsel  meekness,  obedience  a'nd  self-denial.  Theatres  and 
moving  picture  shows  ridicule  the  revolutionary  movement,  glo- 
rify scabs,  and  show  how  the  chief  sucker  on  the  job  may  rise  to 
affluence  by  marrying  the  boss's  daughter. 

Literature  is  also  prostituted  to  capitalism.  The  reading  mat- 
ter dished  up  to  the  "public"  in  the  form  of  "popular  novels" 
and  magazine  stories  is  of  the  cheap  and  trashy  variety.  The 
"heroes"  of  this  intellectual  slush  are  the  kind  that  rise  from 
poverty  and  win  success  by  being  good  dogs  for  their  masters 
and  traitors  to  their  fellow  workers.  The  purpose  of  the  detect- 
ive story  is  to  bluff  the  workers  into  submission  by  creating  in 
their  minds  an  exaggerated  idea  of  the  ability  of  "Sherlock 
Holmes"  and  all  his  scabby  tribe,  whose  intelligence,  in  actual 
life,  is  of  the  lowest  order.  Such  literary  garbage  is  widely  ad- 
vertised and  reviewed,  and  sold  by  the  car-load,  while  books  and 
writings  dealing  with  facts  are  refused  publication,  or  if  they 
do  get  into  print,  are  limited  to  a  small  circulation,  being  boy- 
cotted by  the  capitalist  press. 

When  fraud  and  deceit  fail  to  hold  the  workers  in  subjection 
violence  is  used.  The  beast  of  capitalism  throws  off  his  cloak 
of  democracy  and  shows  himself  in  his  true  colors.  The  ma- 
chinery of  a  servile  state  is  called  into  action.  Anti-labor  laws 
are  passed.  Injunctions  tie  up  u'nion  funds  and  prohibit  workers 
from  striking.  Corrupt  judges  sentence  workers  to  long  terms 
in  the  penitentiary  for  the  "crime"  of  being  active  in  the  labor 
movement.  Police  and  detectives  frame  up  on  active  union  men. 
Mob  rule  is  stirred  up  by  the  press.  Union  halls  and  offices  are 
raided.  Workers  are  kidnapped,  beaten,  tarred  and  feathered, 
deported  and  murdered.   Private  armies  of  gunmen  shoot  down 

65 


strikers  and  rape,  torture  and  murder  their  wives  and  children. 
All  who  dare  to  question  the  right  of  the  ruling  plutocracy  are 
hounded  and  persecuted  and  terrorism  holds  sway. 

The  capitalists  have  organized  the  workers  to  produce  wealth. 
They  themselves  are  organized  to  rob  the  workers.  And  they 
have  organized  all  society  to  protect  their  stolen  property  and 
privileges.  They  are  strongly  intrenched  in  power,  but  this  is 
no  reason  for  discouragement.  The  capitalists  are  strong,  but 
not  with  their  own  power;  they  are  strong  with  the  power  of  the 
workers.  Industry  is  the  source  of  all  wealth  and  of  all  human 
power.  Only  the  workers  can  run  industry,  for  only  the  workers 
have  the  labor  power.  Therefore  all  human  power  comes  from 
the  workers.  Without  workers,  capitalists  could  not  exist,  but 
without  capitalists  workers  could  live  as  human  beings,  instead 
of  existing  as  beasts  of  burden  as  they  do  today.  The  power  of 
labor  is  the  greatest  in  the  world,  in  fact  it  is  the  only  human 
power  in  the  world.  Without  labor  to  produce  food,  clothing, 
shelter  and  fuel,  human  life  could  not  exist.  Without  labor  to 
feed,  clothe,  equip  and  transport  them,  armies  could  not  light; 
governments  could  not  function;  scientists  could  not  study;  pro- 
fessors could  not  teach,  editors  could  not  write.  All  human  activ- 
ity would  come  to  an  end. 

Without  the  power  to  produce  wealth  there  could  be  neither 
financial  power,  political  power,,  intellectual  power,  military 
power,  nor  any  other  power.  The  workers  do  not  control  this 
power  because  they  are  not  organized  for  that  purpose.  Lacking 
control  of  their  own  labor  power  the  workers  are  reduced  to  the 
level  of  cattle,  mere  beasts  of  burden  toiling  to  produce  wealth 
for  their  masters,  whenever  their  masters  see  fit  to  give  them 
permission  to  toil.  Organized  in  such  a  way  as  to  control  their 
own  labor  power  the  workers  can  control  the  world. 

To  organize  means  to  come  to  a  common  understanding  as  to 
the  end  to  be  accomplished,  and  then  to  work  systematically  to- 
gether for  the  attainment  of  that  end.  How  the  workers  must 
organize  will  be  explained  in  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  9. 


RIGHT  VERSUS  WRONG  METHODS  OF  ORGANIZATION. 


S  TO  the  necessity  for  working-class  organization  there  can 


be  no  question.  The  point  to  be  decided  is:  How  shall  the 


workers  organize?  This  question  is  of  supreme  importance. 
If  the  workers  allow  themselves  to  be  misled  and  tricked  into 
organizing  in  a  way  that  will  not  only  fail  to  free  them  from 
wage  slavery  or  even  to  better  their  condition,  but  will  put  them 
more  thoroly  in  the  power  of  the  industrial  masters,  much  valu- 
able time  will  be  lost  and  discouragement  and  despair  will  re- 
sult. What  is  needed  is  unity  of  thought  and  action.  Far  better 
no  organization  at  all  than  a  fake  form  which  divides  the  work- 
ers against  themselves  and  misleads  them  in  the  interests  of  the 
employers. 

Such  a  form  of  unionism  exists  today.  It  is  known  a^  craft 
unionism  and  is  represented  by  the  American  Federation  of  La- 
bor. Craft  unio'nism  splits  the  workers  up  into  as  many  different 
unions  as  there  are  crafts.  Each  of  these  unions  is  tied  up  by  a 
separate  contract  with  the  employers,  and  all  these  contracts  ex- 
pire at  different  times.  In  this  way  united  action  is  rendered  im- 
possible. Not  only  does  the  A.  F.  of  L.  divide  the  workers  in 
industry  but  it  teaches  them  the  economic  lie  that  the  interests 
of  labor  and  capital  are  identical.  It  stands  for  a  "fair  day's 
pay  for  a  fair  day's  work."  This  may  sound  reasonable  enough 
to  those  ignorant  of  economics  and  unacquainted  with  the  real 
nature  of  the  wage  system.  In  reality  it  means  nothing  except 
that  the  A.  F.  of  L.  puts  itself  on  record  as  upholding  the  wage 
system  and  condem'ns  the  workers  to  perpetual  exploitation.  Who 
can  determine  what  is  a  fair  day's  pay?  Wages  and  profits  go 
together.  One  cannot  exist  without  the  other.  If  a  worker  ad- 
mits his  wages  are  fair  then  he  must  also  admit  that  his  em- 
ployer's profits  are  fair.  One  might  as  well  talk  about  a  fair 
night's  plunder  for  a  burglar.  Employers  think  a  fair  day's  pay 
is  just  enough  to  keep  the  workers  in  working  condition.  Intel- 
ligent workers  know  labor  produces  all  wealth,  and  they  demand 
the  full  product  of  their  labor.  This  would  leave  no  profits  for 
the  boss  and  so  would  mean  the  end  of  the  present  system  which 
is  based  on  wages  and  profits.  '-^ 

The  workers  are  organized  to  produce  wealth — not  by  crafts 
but  by  industries.  To  get  out  logs  the  donkey  engineer  co-op- 
erates, not  with  engineers  in  other  industries,  but  with  fallers, 
buckers,  choker  men  and  all  others  on  the  job.    In  carrying  on 


The  Fallacy  of  Craft  Unionism. 


67 


industry  he  is  only  remotely  connected  with  engineers  ill  other 
industries.  He  cannot  come  to  an  agreement  with  engineers  in 
the  mining  and  co'nstruction  industries  as  to  how  many  logs  are 
to  be  got  out  by  the  crew  with  which  he  works.  That  agreement 
can  only  be  made  or  carried  out  by  the  men  who  make  up  the 
logging  crew.  The  stationary  engineers  are  organized  in  a  craft 
union.  Their  local  union  is  made  up  of  stationary  engineers  in 
all  industries  in  that  locality.  At  their  business  meetings  engi- 
neers from  the  logging  industry  come  together  with  engineers 
from  all  other  industries.  It  is  impossible  for  them  to  arrive  at 
or  carry  out  an  agreement  to  exert  any  co'ntrol  over  the  job,  for 
their  union  separates  them  from  the  other  men  on  the  job,  with 
whom  they  work. 

The  different  local  unions  of  a  craft  are  brought  together  in 
so-called  international  unions.  These  cut  across  all  industries 
and  bring  together  a  small  section  of  the  workers  in  each  in- 
dustry. It  is  impossible  for  workers  organized  on  the  craft  plan 
to  ever  exert  any  appreciable  control  over  industry  because  only 
the  workers  remotely  connected  in  industry  are  brought  together 
in  the  union,  and  those  directly  connected  in  industry  are  separ- 
ated and  tied  up  by  separate  contracts.  On  one  job  there  may 
be  a  dozen  or  more  different  unions,  each  tied  up  with  a  separate 
contract.  Thus  the  men  organized  by  the  bosses  to  work  together 
to  produce,  are  organized  in  craft  unions  to  prevent  their  acting 
together  to  control.  Could  any  more  effective  system  be  devised 
to  keep  the  workers  divided  and  powerless?  Could  any  arrange- 
ment better  suit  the  masters  than  this  Machiavellian  policy  of 
''divide  and  conquer"?  The  only  explanation  is  that  craft  union 
officials  are  agents  of  the  capitalists  and  traitors  to  the  workers. 

Not  all  A.  F.  of  L.  u'nions  are  craft  unions.  The  United  Mine 
Workers,  for  instance,  is  not  divided  on  craft  lines;  but  it  is  or- 
ganized so  as  to  prevent  concerted  action  by  its  members.  In- 
stead of  separating:  the  workers  by  crafts  it  separates  them  by 
districts.  These  districts  are  all  tied  up  by  separate  contracts 
expiring  at  different  times.  When  one  district  is  on  strike  the 
rest  remain  at  work.  The  orders  are  traYisferred  from  the  strike 
district  to  the  others,  and  in  this  way  one  district  scabs  on  an- 
other. Often  the  strikers  go  to  work  in  other  districts,  thus 
scabbing  on  themselves. 

Revolutionary  Industrial  Unionism. 

Revolutionary  industrial  unionism,  as  represented  by  the  In- 
dustrial Workers  of  the  World,  aims  to  organize  the  workers  ac- 
cording to  industry,  on  the  basis  of  one  big  union  in  each  in- 
dustry, without  regard  to  craft  or  the  tools  used ;  all  these  unions 
being  brought  together  under  o*ne  head  and  all  co-operating  to- 
gether towards  a  common  end.  The  I.  W.  W.  is  not  only  indus- 
trial in  form  but  it  is  revolutionary  in  character.  It  is  based  on 
the  principle  that  "the  working  class  and  the  employing  class 
have  nothing  in  common"  and  that  "labor  is  entitled  to  all  it  pro- 
duces." Its  aims  are  three-fold: 


68 


(1)  To  organize  the  workers  in  such  a  way  that  they  can 
successfully  fight  their  battles  and  advance  their  interests  in 
their  everyday  struggles  with  capitalists. 

(2)  To  overthrow  capitalism  and  establish  in  its  place  a  sys- 
tem of  Industrial  Democracy. 

(3)  To  carry  on  production  after  capitalism  has  been  over- 
thrown. 

The  Job  Branch. 

The  workers  are  orga'nized  by  industries  to  carry  on  produc- 
tion. The  job  is  the  unit  of  these  capitalist-controlled  producing 
organizations.  Each  job  is  controlled  by  a  capitalist's  agent — a 
foreman.  The  object  of  the  workers'  organization  is  to  control 
industry,  therefore  it  must  follow  the  lines  of  industry,  and  its 
unit  must  be  the  job  branch.  At  the  job  bra'nch  meetings  the 
workers  who  work  together,  come  together  in  conference.  At 
the  meeting  they  can  come  to  an  agreement  to  work  in  whatever 
way  is  most  beneficial  to  themselves.  When  they  go  back  on  the 
job  they  can  co-operate  to  carry  out  this  agreement.  In  case  of 
strike  all  quit  together.  The  foreman's  control  is  exerted  to 
speed  up  the  workers  a'nd  get  the  greatest  amount  of  work  done 
for  the  least  money.  Control  by  the  organized  workers  is  exerted 
to  secure  for  themselves  the  greatest  possible  percentage  of  the 
wealth  they  produce.  On  all  organized  jobs  the  workers'  control 
is  centralized  in  a  job  committee  whose  function  is  to  see  that 
all  legislation  passed  at  the  job  branch  meetings  is  lived  up  to. 

The  Industrial  Union. 

But  little  can  be  gained  by  organizing  on  one  job  if  the  other 
jobs  in  the  same  industry  are  unorganized.  The  workers  on  each 
job  co-operate  with  the  workers  on  all  other  jobs  in  the  same  in- 
dustry to  run  that  industry  —  for  capitalists.  Capitalist  con- 
trol of  the  different  jobs  in  an  industry  is  centralized  thru  the 
medium  of  foremen,  superintendents,  general  managers  of  com- 
panies, and  industrial  associations  of  capitalists  until  it  culmi- 
nates in  the  trust — or  one  big  union  of  bosses — that  dominates 
that  industry.  In  the  early  days  when  employers  were  small  and 
unorganized,  the  workers  o'n  one  job  might  have  organized  and 
struck  successfully.  But  shutting  down  one  job  brings  little  press- 
ure to  bear  on  a  big  company  that  owns  many  jobs.  Even  if  all 
the  jobs  of  one  company  were  shut  down  by  strikes  it  would 
still  be  possible  for  that  company  to  continue  to  do  business  by 
tra'nsferring  their  orders  to  other  companies  in  the  trust.  The 
union  must  cover  the  whole  industry.  But  even  if  the  workers 
on  every  job  were  organized  their  power  would  be  small  unless 
they  had  some  means  of  coming  to  a  common  understanding  with 
the  workers  on  all  other  jobs  so  they  could  act  in  unity. 

Therefore  all  job  branches  in  an  industry  must  be  brought 
together  to  form  one  big  industrial  union  so  they  can  all  co-oper- 
ate to  control  that  industry  for  themselves.  They  must  have  some 
means  of  arriving  at  a  common  agreement,  and  must  keep  in 


69 


touch  so  they  can  co-operate  to  carry  out  that  agreement.  To 
this  end  annual  or  semi-annual  conventions  are  held,  composed 
of  delegates  from  all  branches  in  the  district  or  industrial  uliion. 
At  these  conventions  a  general  agreement  is  reached  as  to  how 
the  business  of  the  union  is  to  be  conducted.  The  convention  is 
the  legislative  body  of  the  union,  but  all  legislation  passed  must 
be  ratified  by  a  refere'ndum  vote  of  the  rank  and  file  on  the  job. 
As  boards  of  directors  are  elected  at  stockholders'  meetings  to 
look  after  the  interests  of  the  company,  and  are  responsible  to 
the  stockholders,  so  the  executive  committees  of  the  union  are 
nominated  at  the  conventions  and  elected  by  referendum  vote, 
and  are  responsible  to  the  membership.  The  job  branches  of  an 
Industrial  union  are  further  kept  in  touch  thru  the  medium  of  a 
weekly  bulletin  published  at  industrial  union  or  district  head- 
quarters. This  bulletin  prints  the  minutes  of  all  job  branch 
meetings  so  each  branch  knows  what  all  others  are  doing  at  all 
times. 

One  Big  Union  of  All  Workers. 

The  workers  in  each  industry  are  organized  to  co-operate 
with  the  workers  in  all  other  industries  to  carry  on  industry  as 
a  whole.  Each  industry  is  dependent  on,  and  linked  up  with  all 
other  industries.  The  whole  complicated  system  of  modern  in- 
dustry is  ru'n  by  capitalist-controlled  producing  organizations 
of  workers.  Control  of  the  whole  system  culminates  by  means 
of  interlocking  directorates,  common  ownership  of  stock,  "gentle- 
men's agreements,"  etc.,  in  the  hands  of  a  ring  of  great  financial 
and  industrial  magnates  with  headquarters  i'n  Wall  Street.  This 
is  the  one  big  union  of  capitalists  who  control  all  industries.  The 
industrial  unions  of  the  workers  in  each  industry  must  be  brought 
together  in  one  big  union  of  the  entire  worki'ng  class,  so  that  the 
workers  in  each  industry  may  co-operate  with  the  workers  in  all 
other  industries  to  control  industry  as  a  whole  and  run  it  for 
their  own  benefit.  The  connecting  li'nk  between  the  different  in- 
dustrial unions  in  the  General  Convention  of  the  I.  W.  W.,  com- 
posed of  delegates  from  each  industrial  union ;  and  the  General 
Executive  Board  which  is  nominated  at  the  Ge'neral  Convention, 
and  elected  by  referendum  vote  of  the  rank  and  file.  The  G.  E.  B. 
has  general  supervision  over  the  affairs  of  the  organization  be- 
tween conventions.  As  in  each  of  the  industrial  unio'ns  the  Gen- 
eral Convention  is  the  legislative  body  of  the  union,  but  all  legis- 
lation passed  must  be  ratified  by  referendum  vote  of  the  rank 
and  file. 

Industry  is  world-wide.  It  pays  little  atte'ntion  to  national 
boundary  lines.  The  modern  wage  worker  has  neither  property 
nor  country.  Ties  of  birth  and  sentiment  which  connect  him  with 
any  particular  country  are  slight  and  unimportant.  It  makes 
little  differe'nce  to  him  what  country  he  exists  in,  but  he  must 
have  a  job.  Therefore  he  follows  industry.  Capital  seeks  the 
most  profitable  investment.  If  an  American  capitalist  can  invest 
more  profitably  in  the  Krupp  works  of  Germany  than  in  the 
Steel  Trust  of  the  United  States  he  invests  in  the  Krupp  works 


70 


tho  he  knows  his  money  may  be  used  to  finance  the  manufacture 
of  submarines  to  send  American  sailors  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea. 
Capitalists  often  try  to  cover  up  their  crimes  with  a  cloak  of  pa- 
triotism, but  the  only  patriotism  they  know  is  that  of  the  dollar 
mark.  The  revolutionary  unions  of  the  workers  must  not  confine 
themselves  to  geographical  divisions  or  natio'nal  boundary  lines, 
but  must  follow  the  world  embracing  lines  of  industry.  The 
workers  of  all  countries  co-operate  to  carry  on  industry  regard- 
less of  national  boundary  lines,  and  they  must  organize  in  the 
same  way  to  control  i'ndustry.  To  promote  unity  of  thought  and 
action  among  the  world's  workers,  international  conventions  are 
held,  composed  of  delegates  from  the  unions  of  different  coun- 
tries. But  as  industrial  development  proceeds  industrial  lines 
grow  stronger  and  national  lines  become  relatively  less  impor- 
tant. It  is  probable  that  in  the  future  these  conventions  will  be 
composed  of  delegates  from  the  different  branches  of  one  great 
world-wide  industrial  union. 

Revolutionary  Tactics. 

When  the  workers  are  educated  to  the  real  nature  of  the 
profit  system  they  lose  all  respect  for  the  masters  and  their 
property.  They  see  the  capitalists  in  their  true  colors  as  thieves 
and  parasites,  and  their  ''sacred"  property  as  plunder.  They  see 
state,  church,  press  and  university  as  tools  of  the  exploiters  and 
they  look  on  these  institutions  with  contempt.  They  understand 
the  identity  of  interests  of  all  wage-workers  and  realize  the  truth 
of  the  I.  W.  W.  slogan:  "An  injury  to  one  is  an  injury  to  all." 

Organized  industrially,  the  workers  are  in  a  position  to  strike 
at  the  very  heart  of  capitalism.  Even  with  only  a  small  percent- 
age of  workers  organized  there  are  many  ways  in  which  they  can 
use  their  economic  power  for  the  benefit  of  their  own  class,  and 
to  weaken  capitalism.  Railroad  men  can  refuse  to  transport 
scabs  or  material  produced  by  scabs.  They  can  refuse  to  haul 
gunmen  or  soldiers  to  be  used  against  strikers.  They  can  carry 
union  men  free  of  charge.  Union  longshoremen  can  refuse  to 
handle  munitions  to  be  used  against  workers  in  any  part  of  the 
world;  or  to  load  vessels  beyond  the  safety  limit.  Union  tele- 
graph and  telephone  operators  can  fail  to  transmit  messages 
detrimental  to  labor.  Union  printers  ca'n  refuse  to  print  dis- 
torted news,  anti-labor  editorials  or  advertisements  for  scabs. 
Union  cooks  and  waiters  can  refuse  to  serve  rotten  food  to 
union  men  or  any  food  to  scabs.  Union  store  clerks  ca'n  sell 
the  best  goods  to  union  workers  and  reserve  shoddy  clothing 
and  adulterated  food  for  scabs  and  parasites.  Union  steel  work- 
ers can  refuse  to  manufacture  armored  automobiles,  trains  or 
tanks  to  be  used  against  their  class.  Union  factory  workers  can 
refuse  to  manufacture  rifles  or  ammunition  for  use  against  work- 
ers. Union  food  workers  can  refuse  to  can  rotten  or  diseased 
meat  or  to  adulterate  food  in  any  way.  Union  construction  work- 
ers can  refuse  to  handle  scab  material,  or  to  build  jails  or  dan- 


71 


gerous,  insanitary  houses.  Union  lumber  workers  can  refuse  to 
supply  lumber  to  scab  construction  jobs. 

By  mutual  agreement  organized  workers  can  slow  down  on 
the  job,  thus  conserving  their  energy,  and  lessening  the  army  of 
unemployed  by  causing  more  men  to  be  put  to  work.  They  can 
dictate  who  shall  be  hired  or  discharged.  They  can  refuse  to 
work  under  objectionable  foremen  and  can  choose  their  own 
foremen.  It  might  be  objected  that  such  action  by  workers 
would  cause  their  discharge.  This  would  depend  o'n  how  strong- 
ly they  were  organized.  Some  of  the  examples  given  would  re- 
quire the  backing  of  a  strong  union,  others  could  be  done  with 
very  little  organization,  but  all  have  been  put  into  practice  in 
recent  years  both  in  this  and  other  countries.  Little  is  heard  of 
such  cases  because,  for  obvious  reasons,  they  are  seldom  men- 
tioned in  the  capitalist  press. 

When  the  capitalists  feel  their  control  of  industry  slipping 
they  will  probably  declare  a  lockout  and  try  to  cause  an  extensive 
shut-down  of  industry,  hoping  by  this  means  to  starve  the  work- 
ers into  submission.  But  the  organized  workers,  confide'nt  of 
their  power  to  run  industry,  will  remain  on  the  job  and  continue 
to  carry  on  production  and  distribution.  These  tactics  were  used 
on  a  large  scale  by  the  Italian  workers  in  1920.  The  metal- 
lurgical workers  demanded  higher  wages,  which  the  employers 
refused.  They  did  not  go  out  on  strike  but  stayed  on  the  job,  and 
by  the  slow-down  strike  reduced  production  one-half.  The  em- 
ployers then  declared  a  lockout,  but  the  workers  refused  to  leave 
the  job.  They  put  the  bosses  out  and  continued  to  operate  the 
plants.  Owing  to  lack  of  sufficient  organization  in  other  indus- 
tries they  were  forced  to  let  the  capitalists  take  control  again. 
But  when  they  resumed  work  for  wages  it  was  on  much  more 
advantageous  terms  in  regards  to  hours,  wages  and  conditions. 

No  doubt  the  same  tactics  will  be  used  many  times  in  differ- 
ent countries  before  the  final  collapse  of  capitalism.  With  each 
trial  of  their  strength  the  workers  will  gain  experience  ^nd  learn 
their  weak  points.  As  working-class  organization  grows  stronger 
capitalism  grows  weaker.  It  has  already  outlived  its  useful- 
ness. It  is  unable  to  run  industry  efficiently,  and  fails  to  supply 
the  needs  of  the  great  majority  of  the  people.  With  the  workers 
organized  industrially  and  understanding  their  interests  and  their 
power  as  a  class,  failure  is  impossible,  and  it  is  only  a  matter  of  time 
before  they  take  full  control  of  industry  and  abolish  v/age  slavery. 

Facts  About  the  I.  W.  W. 

The  I.  W.  W.  is  non-political.  It  is  not  concerned  with  the 
empty  forms  of  a  fake  political  democracy.  Industrial  unionists 
know  popular  government  can  never  be  anything  but  a  fraud 
and  a  sham  under  a  system  of  industrial  autocracy.  Knowing 
the  industrial  government  is  the  real  government  they  refuse  to 
waste  time  electing  the  hirelings  of  Wall  Street  money  kings,  but 
aim  straight  at  the  root  of  all  human  power — control  of  industry. 


72 


The  aim  of  the  I.  W.  W.  is  industrial  democracy,  which  means 
that  those  who  run  industry  shall  control  industry  and  that  every 
worker  shall  have  a  voice  in  its  management.  Control  of  in- 
dustry by  the  workers  means  a  social  revolution — a  complete 
turning  over  of  the  social  system.  With  control  of  industry  in 
the  hands  of  the  workers  production  will  be  carried  on  for  use 
and  not  for  profit,  a'nd  all  activities  of  society  will  be  for  the 
benefit  of  the  workers  instead  of  for  the  maintenance  of  a  para- 
site class. 

The  I.  W.  W.  believes  in,  advocates  and  practices  direct  ac- 
tion. Direct  action  means  the  direct  use  of  their  economic  power 
by  the  workers  themselves — as  in  strikes^ — as  opposed  to  parlia- 
mentary action  by  which  the  workers  try  to  elect  politicians  to 
represent  them  in  capitalist  governments. 

Initiation  fees  and  dues  in  the  I.  W.  W.  are  low  in  order  to 
be  within  reach  of  all  The  I.  W.  W.  aims  to  take  in  all  workers 
regardless  of  race,  creed,  color  or  sex.  It  is  not  its  object  to  build 
up  an  exclusive  job  trust,  but  a  great  working-class  union.  Keep- 
ing workers  out  of  a  union  by  a  prohibitive  initiation  fee  forces 
them  to  scab  a'nd  eventually  destroys  the  union. 

The  I.  W.  W.  is  democratic  in  principle.  It  tolerates  no  offi- 
cial autocracy  within  its  ranks.  Officials  are  elected  and  all  im- 
portant questions  decided  by  referendum  vote  of  the  rank  and 
file.  Strikes  cannot  be  called  on  or  off  except  by  vote  of  the  men 
on  the  job. 

It  is  against  the  principles  of  the  I.  W.  W.  to  sign  contracts. 
When  the  workers  sign  a  contract  not  to  strike  they  sign  away 
one  of  their  strongest  weapons.  Past  experience  shows  employ- 
ers only  respect  contracts  so  long  as  the  workers  have  power  to 
enforce  them.  When  the  workers  have  power  to  enforce  them 
contracts  are  unnecessary,  but  when  they  lack  such  power  con- 
tracts are  useless,  for  the  employers  will  break  them  whenever 
it  suits  their  purpose. 

There  are  no  high-salaried  officials  in  the  I.  W.  W.  Wages 
of  officials  are  determined  by  the  average  wages  of  the  workers 
in  industry.  There  are  no  permanent  officials,  the  term  of  office 
being  limited  to  one  year.  Ex-officials  must  work  at  least  six 
months  at  the  point  of  production  before  they  are  eligible  to  hold 
office  again. 

In  its  battles  with  the  system  the  I.  W.  W.  does  not  depend 
on  big  treasuries.  It  realizes  the  power  of  labor  is  industrial, 
not  financial,  and  that  the  few  nickels  and  dimes  of  the  workers 
can  never  prevail  against  the  billions  of  the  capitalists.  No  at- 
tempt is  made  to  build  up  a  big  treasury,  all  funds  not  needed 
for  actual  runtiing  expenses  being  used  to  carry  on  the  work  of 
education  and  organization.  Big  treasuries  are  more  a  source  of 
weakness  than  of  strength.  They  cause  a  union  to  become  con- 
servative, and  in  time  of  strikes  can  be  confiscated  by  the  courts 
or  tied  up  by  injunctions  as  in  the  cases  of  the  Danbury  Hatters 
and  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America.  When  any  industrial 
union  or  branch  is  on  strike  it  is  backed  up  by  the  solidarity  of 
all  members  in  all  industries.    Meetings  are  held,  collections 

73 


taken  up  a'nd  subscription  lists  circulated.  This  method  has  never 
failed.  Some  of  the  biggest  and  most  successful  strikes  ever  car- 
ried on  in  the  United  States  have  been  financed  in  this  way. 

There  is  a  universal  transfer  system  between  the  different 
industrial  unions  of  the  I.  W.  W.  When  a  worker  moves  from 
one  Industry  to  another  he  can  transfer  from  one  union  to  the 
other,  without  expense  or  inconvenience. 

The  I.  W.  W.  is  the  result  of  the  past  experience  of  the  labor 
movement.  It  has  learned  from  the  mistakes  and  failures  of 
former  organizations.  It  is  a  natural  result  of  capitalism.  So 
long  as  the  conditions  which  produced  it  remain  it  ca'nnot  be  des- 
troyed. 

For  further  information  write  to  Lumber  Workers'  Industrial 
Union,  1001  W.  Madison  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


74 


CHAPTER  10. 


PAST  BATTLES  OF  THE  LUMBER  WORKERS. 

MANY  attempts  at  organization  among  lumber  workers  have 
been  made  with  varying  success.  The  first  lumber  workers; 
union  of  which  we  have  any  record  was  organized  at  Eu- 
reka, Calif.,  in  1884.  Six  months  later  it  took  out  a  charter  in  the 
Knights  of  Labor,  and  soon  gained  a  membership  of  over  two 
thousand.  It  had  locals  in  Eureka,  Areata,  Freshwater,  and 
several  other  points  in  Northern  California,  and  published  a 
weekly  paper  called  ''The  Western  Watchman.''  One  of  the  prin- 
cipal grievances  of  the  lumber  workers  was  the  hospital  fee. 
This  union  put  the  company  hospital  out  of  commission,  and 
forced  the  head  doctor  to  leave  town  for  parts  unknown.  It 
prevented  the  rapid  reduction  of  wages,  exposed  the  land  steals 
of  the  companies,  and,  four  years  later,  was  a  factor  in  reducing 
the  hours  of  sawmill  workers  from  twelve  to  ten.  After  a  mili- 
ta'nt  career  of  about  five  years  this  union  was  broken  up  by  the 
lumber  companies  of  the  Pacific  Coast  weeding  out  and  black- 
listing the  most  active  members. 

In  1908  the  Western  Labor  Union,  an  organization  closely 
allied  with  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners,  began  to  gain  a 
foothold  among  the  lumber  workers  of  Western  Montana.  In 
1905  this  organization,  which  had  changed  its  name  to  the  Amer- 
ican Labor  Union,  was  one  of  the  unions  which  went  to  make  up 
the  I.  W.  W.  By  that  time  it  had  a  considerable  membership 
among  the  Montana  lumber  workers,  and  the  union  charter  hung 
in  many  bunk-houses. 

In  1907,  1908  and  1909  there  were  strikes  in  Western  Mon- 
tana, but  these  were  only  partly  successful.  In  some  camps  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Missoula  the  nine-hour  day  was  gained. 
This  section  supplied  the  timber  for  the  mines  of  Butte,  and  dur- 
ing the  strike  of  1908  an  appeal  was  made  to  the  miners  to  re- 
fuse to  handle  the  timbers  cut  by  scabs.  This  appeal  was  turned 
down  by  the  corrupt  clique  then  in  control  of  the  union,  and  that 
broke  the  back  of  the  strike. 

In  order  to  break  up  the  lumber  workers'  u'nion  and  also  to 
save  the  faces  of  the  miners  from  the  reputation  of  using  scab 
timbers,  the  lumber  and  copper  companies  made  a  deal  with  the 
A.  F.  of  L.,  by  which  the  latter  was  to  invade  the  territory,  and 
form  a  new  "union"  among  the  lumber  workers.  With  the  help 
of  the  companies  the  A.  F.  of  L.  lined  up  foremen,  scabs,  stools 
and  company  spotters.  Many  men  joined  this  so-called  union  to 
hold  their  jobs.  This  union  was  completely  controlled  by  the 
companies  and  was  looked  upon  as  a  joke  by  the  workers.  How- 


75 


ever,  it  was  partly  successful  in  breaking  up  the  existing  union 
which  was  considerably  weakened  by  the  hard  struggles  it  had 
gone  thru. 

In  1907  two  thousa'nd  sawmill  workers  struck  in  Portland, 
Oregon,  tying  up  the  lumber  industry  of  that  city.  A  minority 
were  organized  in  the  I.  W.  W.,  and  these  were  the  leading  spir- 
its. The  strike  lasted  about  three  weeks,  but  was  broken  by  the 
scabbing  of  the  A.  F.  of  L.,  which  at  that  time  was  maintaining 
a  lumber  workers'  organization. 

Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Timber  Workers. 

The  Brotherhood  of  Timber  Workers  was  organized  In  West- 
ern Louisiana  in  1910,  and  affiliated  with  the  I.  W.  W.  at  its  con- 
vention in  April,  1912.  At  the  time  of  affiliation  it  had  about 
5,000  paid-up  members  and  probably  15,000  to  20,000  lumber 
workers  and  working  farmers  who  were  in  arrears  on  dues,  but 
still  claimed  membership.  The  union  was  the  outcome  of  a  great, 
spontaneous  walk-out  of  all  the  Southern  lumber  workers  in 
1907,  which  was  caused  by  the  Lumber  Trust  attempting  to  cut 
wages  heavily  and  to  lengthen  hours  still  more.  Everywhere, 
except  in  the  Lake  Charles  district  of  Louisiana,  where  the  I.  W. 
W.'s  influence  has  already  begun  to  make  itself  felt,  the  workers 
took  the  promise  of  the  Trust  that,  if  they  would  return  to  work 
and  not  form  a  labor  union,  the  Trust  pledged  its  "word  of  honor'' 
to  restore  the  old  wages  and  hours  just  as  soon  as  "prosperity" 
came  back.  This  the  workers,  except  in  the  district  mentioned, 
fell  for,  but  the  Lake  Charles  district  resisted  and  won  a  partial 
victory.  This  heartened  the  workers  somewhat  and  as  prosperity 
began  to  return  and  the  Lumber  Trust  completely  forgot  its 
pledge,  the  workers  and  farmers,  as  soon  as  it  began  to  organize, 
rushed  to  the  Brotherhood  in  mass.  Frightened  at  the  success 
of  the  Brotherhood,  the  Trust  resolved  on  desperate  remedies 
and,  in  July,  1911,  declared  a  lockout  in  all  the  largest  sawmills 
of  Western  Louisiana  and  Eastern  Texas.  This  lockout  lasted  over 
seven  months,  during  which  time  between  5,000  and  7,000  of  the 
most  active  union  workers,  white  and  colored,  were  blacklisted 
out  of  the  lumber  district  and  thousands  of  families  were  reduced 
to  living  on  three  meals  of  cornbread  and  molasses  a  day.  Think- 
ing this  frightful  punishment  had  sufficiently  cowed  the  workers 
and  farmers,  the  Trust  began  to  re-open  its  mills  in  the  early 
part  of  1912,  offering,  however,  a  little  higher  wages  and  about 
a  ten-hour  day. 

But  this  did  not  satisfy  the  workers,  and  they  insisted  on  the 
full  union  demands  of  75c.  a  thousand  for  cutting  logs  and  of  a 
minimum  wage  for  common  labor  of  $3.00  a  day  for  a  nine- 
hour  day,  together  with  reforms  in  the  method  of  collecting  and 
handling  insurance  and  doctor's  fees,  which  the  workers  de- 
manded be  turned  over  to  their  own  committees  to  be  managed 
by  and  for  the  workers.  They  further  demanded  reduced  rents 
and  commissary  prices. 


76 


The  Trust  refused  these  demands  and  began  a  more  violent 
campaign  against  the  Brotherhood  and  used  the  blacklist  more 
viciously  than  ever.  But  still  the  workers  fought  on.  But  all 
this  failed  to  smash  the  union,  and  so,  on  July  7th,  1912,  the 
''riot"  at  Grabo,  Louisiana,  was  provoked.  This  "riot,''  which 
the  chief  organ  of  the  National  Lumber  Trust  boasted  "was 
brought  about  to  finish  the  union,''  resulted  in  the  arrest  of  58 
members  of  the  Brotherhood,  including  their  organizer,  A.  L. 
Emenson,  all  of  whom  were  "tried"  at  Lake  Charles,  La.,  in  tl  .e 
autumn  of  1912  and  all  una'nimously  acquitted  on  the  first,  or 
trial  ballot,  of  the  jury. 

The  Brotherhood  still  fought  on,  but  by  this  time,  the  trial 
having  taken  all  the  resources  and  funds  of  the  union,  all  the 
most  active  men  had  been  driven  into  the  mill  at  Merryville,  La., 
which  belonged  to  the  Santa  Fe  railroad  gang,  but  which  had, 
under  its  old  general  manager,  recognized  and  dealt  with  the 
union.  The  old  manager  was  removed ;  the  new  one  began  the 
discharge  of  all  union  men,  and  this  resulted  in  the  last  great 
strilie  of  the  Southern  lumber  workers.  This  strike  lasted  seven 
months,  during  which  time  the  workers  and  farmers  kept  the 
mill  shut  down  totally  for  five  months  and  partially  for  two 
months  more. 

Furious  at  the  resistance  of  the  workers  and  farmers,  the 
Trust  turned  a  mob,  called  the  "Good  Citizens'  League,"  loose 
on  the  now  exhausted  workers,  which  beat  up  and  deported  from 
the  town  all  ofiicers,  organizers  and  most  active  men.  The 
governor  of  Louisiana,  of  course,  refused  to  interfere  with  this 
campaign  of  violence  on  the  part  of  the  Trust,  and  this  practi- 
cally ended  the  work  of  the  Brotherhood. 

The  last  strike  occur ed  at  Sweet  Home  Front,  La.,  in  the 
autumn  of  1913,  when  the  woodsmen  walked  out  against  the 
Iron  Mountain  Lumber  Co.  which  spent  $40,000  to  break  it. 
After  tris  strike  was  lost,  or  rather  just  after  the  Merryville 
strike,  the  trust  ];egan  a  campaign  of  raising  wages  a  little, 
shortening  hours,  putting  rent  a'nd  insurance  collections  on  a 
weekly  basis,  with  a  weekly  payday,  etc.,  brought  in  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  to  do  "social  welfare  work"  and,  coupling  these  conces- 
sions with  a  threat  to  fire  any  and  all  men  who  still  stood  by  the 
union,  succeeded  in  breaking  its  power  at  last. 

However,  many  of  the  blacklisted  men,  who  were,  of  course, 
the  cream  of  the  Brotherhood,  went  over  into  Texas,  Oklahoma 
and  other  States  and  there  exerted  a  powerful  influence  on  the 
A.  F.  of  L.  and  Railway  Brotherhoods  and  Oil  Field  Workers' 
Union;  so,  from  the  workers'  standpoint,  it  was  once  again 
proven  that  "no  strike  is  ever  lost,"  for  they  had  undoubtedly 
bettered  conditions  for  all  the  workers  over  a  wide  sectio'n  of  the 
South.    Moreover,  the  "Old  Guard"  is  still  watched  and  feared. 

Wonderful  solidarity  was  displayed  in  these  strikes,  the 
workers,  time  after  time,  literally  dividing  their  last  crust  with 
one  another,  and  the  farmers  killing  the  last  calf  they  had  in 
the  woods  to  feed  the  strikers.    The  Brotherhood  is  dispersed, 

77 


but  its  spirit  still  li^es  and  a  greater  and  more  powerful  iinlop. 
will  in  the  end  rise  fi  cm  the  ashes  of  the  old. 

In  the  spring  of  1912  a  strike  broke  out  in  the  sawmills  of 
Aberdeen,  Hoquiam,  and  Raymond,  Washington,  against  the 
ten-hour  day  and  the  ^ow  wages.  The  demands  were  for  an 
eight-hour  day  with  a  minimum  wage  of  $2.50.  A  small  percent- 
age of  the  mill  workers  were  members  of  the  I.  W.  W.  and  these 
played  a  leading  part  in  the  strike.  Many  of  the  loggers  of 
Western  Washington  struck  in  sympathy,  and  for  some  weeks  a 
bitter  struggle  was  waged.  This  strike  was  characterized  by 
the  usual  lawless  violence  of  the  Lumber  Trust.  Many  strikers 
were  jailed  on  trumped-up  charges.  Others  were  dragged  from 
their  beds  at  "night,  murderously  assaulted,  and  deported  in  auto- 
mobiles. The  strike  lasted  about  five  weeks  and  was  partly 
successful.  An  increase  in  wages  of  about  fifty  cents  a  day  was 
gained  in  the  mills.  The  loggers  gained  the  same  wage  increase 
and  forced  the  companies  to  furnish  springs  and  mattresses  and 
clean  up  the  camps. 

In- 1913  there  were  a  number  of  other  strikes  in  the 'lumber 
industry.  Early  in  the  spring  a  strike  started  in  the  Coos  Bay 
Country,  Oregon.  There  was  also  a  strike  in  Montana,  princi- 
pally effective  around  Missoula,  caused  by  an  attempt  to  force 
a  return  to  ten-hour  day.  In  Western  Washington  there  was 
a  partial  strike  of  loggers.  In  Minnesota  many  sawmill  workers 
struck.  Some  gains  were  made  by  these  strikes.  In  Montana 
a  return  to  the  ten-hour  day  was  prevented.  In  other  places  some 
wage  increases  were  gained,  and  food  and  camp  conditions  im- 
proved. 

These  strikes  taught  tne  workers  something  of  the  power  of 
organization.  The  greed  and  brutality  of  the  Lumber  Trust 
showed  the  necessity  for  united  action.  Experience  with  the  A. 
F.  of  L.  demonstrated  the  futility  of  craft  union  scabbery,  and 
showed  its  labor  fakers  in  their  true  colors  as  traitors  to  the 
workers.  It  was  plainly  evident  that  only  One  Big  Union  could 
successfully  lock  horns  with  the  Lumber  Trust.  The  I.  W.  W. 
maintained  lumber  workers'  locals  in  the  principal  cities  of  the 
Northwest,  and  carried  on  its  propaganda  by  holding  meetings 
and  distributing  literature.  Slowly  but  surely  the  One  Big  Union 
idea  took  hold  in  the  minds  of  the  workers  of  camp  and  mill.  In 
1916  a  strong  drive  was  made  to  organize  the  lumber  workers 
of  the  Northwest.  It  met  with  immediate  success,  and  by  the 
spring  of  1917  thousands  of  lumber  workers  were  lined  up  in  the 
L  W.  W. 

In  March,  1917,  Lumber  Workers'  Industrial  Union  No.  500 
(now  120)  was  launched,  with  a  membership  of  about  ten  thou- 
sand. A  strike  was  voted  for  the  summer,  and  demands  were 
drawn  up,  principal  of  which  was  the  eight-hour  day.  In  June 
the  strike  started  and  quickly  spread  to  all  parts  of  Eastern 
Washington,  Idaho  and  Montana.  Three  weeks  later  it  spread 
to  Western  Washington.  Some  of  the  sawmill  crews  joined  in 
the  general  walkout.  In  a  few  weeks  practically  every  sawmill 
in  Washington,  Idaho  and  Montana  had  to  shut  down  for  want 


78 


of  logs,  strike  camps  were  formed  and  a  system  of  pickets  was 
organized  to  cover  the  whole  strike  zone.  Owing  to  the  extent 
of  the  strike,  the  great  number  of  men  involved,  and  the  vigil- 
ance of  the  pickets  the  most  strenuous  efforts  of  the  companies 
were  unavailing  to  recruit  enough  scabs  eve'n  to  make  a  show  of 
keeping  up  production. 

Never  before  had  the  lumber  barons  been  confronted  by  such 
a  situation.  They  were  at  a  loss  how  to  meet  it.  Their  fury  knew 
no  bounds;  but  it  was  impotent  fury.  Every  method  formerly 
successful  in  breaking  strikes  was  tried  and  failed.  Thugs  and 
gu'nmen  infested  all  the  camps  and  lost  no  opportunity  to  harass 
and  annoy  the  strikers.  Spies  and  stools  attempted  to  cause  dis- 
sension and  disruption  within  the  ranks.  Police  and  sheriffs 
jailed  strikers  by  the  hundred.  The  press  carried  on  a  daily 
campaign  of  lies,  slander  and  abuse.  The  editorial  prostitutes 
worked  overtime  concocting  stories  calculated  to  deceive  a'nd 
discourage  the  strikers.  It  was  constantly  reported  that  the 
strike  was  broken  and  that  the  strikers  were  returning  to  work. 
Stories  were  printed  that  the  strike  was  instigated  by  German 
agents  and  financed  by  German  gold  to  obstruct  the  United 
States  in  the  war.  Mob  law  was  stirred  up,  u'nion  halls  were 
raided  and  furniture  and  supplies  destroyed.  In  some  places 
strikers  were  beaten  up  and  run  out  of  town.  In  Troy,  Montana, 
a  striker  was  burned  to  death  in  jail. 

But  in  spite  of  all  this  violence,  persecution  and  abuse,  the 
me'n  stuck  to  the  picket  lines.  When  pickets  were  arrested  others 
took  their  places.  Jails  held  no  terrors  for  the  striking  lumber- 
jacks, for  jails  could  be  no  worse  than  the  camps  they  had  left. 
The  vindictive  ferocity  of  the  Lumber  Trust  was  met  by  stiff- 
necked,  sullen  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  strikers  and  a  bitter 
labor  war  was  the  result. 

The  Lumber  Trust  governor  of  Idaho  made  a  tour  of  all  the 
strike  camps  in  that  state,  appealing  to  the  patriotism  of  the 
strikers  and  trying  to  convince  them  that  it  was  their  duty  to 
work  for  the  industrial  kaisers  of  the  Lumber  Trust  at  starva- 
tion wages  and  under  inhuman  conditio'ns  in  order  to  expedite 
the  war  against  the  political  autocracy  of  the  German  kaiser. 
The  logic  of  this  reasoning  did  not  impress  the  strikers  very 
deeply  for  it  was  well  known  that  the  lumber  barons'  hypocrit- 
ical pretensions  of  patriotism  were  only  a  cloak  to  cover  their 
own  crimes.  They  had  fastened  themselves  like  leeches  at  the 
IJiioat  of  the  go\ernment  and  were  profiteering  on  a  scale  before 
unheard  of. 

But  brute  force  and  not  logic  is  what  the  Lumber  Trust  has 
always  relied  on  to  hold  its  employes  in  subjection.  As  soon  as 
the  governor  had  taken  his  departure  the  sheriff  and  his  deputies 
would  raid  the  camp  and  arrest  the  most  active  of  the  strikers. 
All  over  the  strike  district  hundreds  of  men  were  lying  in  the 
filthy  jails  and  every  day  added  to  the  number  of  arrests.  When 
the  jails  would  hold  no  more,  "bull-pe'ns"  were  built  at  several 
points  and  these  were  filled  with  strikers  and  guarded  by  armed 

79 


thugs.  To  enumerate  all  the  instances  of  violence  and  lawless- 
ness practiced  on  unarmed  strikers  by  Lumber  Trust  gunmen  and 
subservient  officers  of  the  law  would  fill  volumes.  But  all  this 
hounding,  persecuting,  beating  and  jailing  could  not  break  the 
strike  or  crush  the  spirit  of  the  strikers.  Logs  can  not  be  got 
out  with  clubs  and  guns.  The  lumber  industry  remained  para- 
lyzed. 

But  as  the  strike  progressed  it  became  increasingly  evident 
that,  notwithstanding  the  solidarity  and  determination  of  the 
strikers,  the  tactics  employed  were  bound  to  e'nd  in  failure.  The 
fallacy  of  long  strikes  off  the  job  had  been  demonstrated  many 
times  in  other  industries.  It  was  impossible  to  raise  sufficient 
funds  to  support  the  strike  indefinitely.  By  staying  away  from 
the  job  they  left  it  open  to  scabs,  and  it  would  only  be  a  matter 
of  time  before  the  companies  would  recruit  enough  of  these  de- 
generates to  ru'n  the  camps  again.  With  the  most  active  strikers 
in  jail  and  starvation  staring  the  rest  in  the  face,  every  day  made 
it  harder  to  maintain  a  solid  front.  The  longer  the  strike  lasted 
the  blacker  the  outlook  became  for  the  strikers  and  inevitable 
failure  and  defeat  faced  them  in  the  end. 

On  the  other  hand,  by  transferring  the  strike  to  the  job,  and 
using  the  tactics  long  advocated  by  the  I.  W.  W.,  the  situation 
would  be  reversed  and  failure  would  be  impossible.  Many  of 
the  strikers  had  been  opposed  to  a  long-drawn-out  strike  from 
the  start,  and  had  advocated  an  early  return  to  the  job  and  the 
use  of  the  job  strike.  They  pointed  out  that  the  object  of  a 
strike  is  to  reduce  the  profits  of  the  boss,  and  that  this  can  be 
do'ne  just  as  effectively  and  with  far  less  effort  by  the  use  of  job 
tactics.  Poor  work  for  poor  pay  is  the  quickest  and  easiest  way 
to  bring  the  parasites  to  time.  With  the  job  strike,  instead  of 
starving  on  the  picket  line,  the  strikers  would  be  eating  three 
squares  a  day  at  the  expense  of  the  boss  and  drawing  their  pay 
besides.  These  tactics  would  eliminate  the  scabs,  for  if  any  were 
on  the  job  when  the  strikers  returned  they  would  undoubtedly 
find  it  unpleasant  to  make  a  long  stay.  After  considerable  dis- 
cussion it  was  decided  to  use  the  job  strike. 

About  the  middle  of  September  the  movement  back  to  the 
job  started.  The  strikers'  return  was  hailed  by  the  press  as  a 
victory  for  the  Lumber  Trust.  Far  from  being  such,  it  was  only 
the  beginning  of  a  new  and  far  more  effective  form  of  strike. 
The  tactics  employed  to  break  the  strike,  instead  of  discouraging 
the  strikers,  had  only  aroused  their  fighting  spirit.  Their  minds 
were  freed  from  any  illusio'ns  they  may  have  had  about  the  "iden- 
tity of  interests''  between  labor  and  capital,  "constitutional 
rights,"  "equality  before  the  law"  and  all  similar  high-sounding 
but  meaningless  bunk.  They  were  smarting  under  a  burning 
sense  of  injustice.  The  mask  of  hypocrisy  had  bee'n  torn  off  and 
press,  courts,  legislatures,  officers  of  the  law,  and  politicians  were 
plainly  shown  to  be  nothing  but  the  tools  of  big  business.  They 
had  learned  from  experience  that  a  workingman  has  no  rights 
under  capitalism  except  such  as  his  organized  power  can  main- 
tain. 


80 


When  the  strikers  returned  to  the  job,  instead  of  doing  a 
day's  work  as  formerly  they  would  "hoosier  up,"  that  is,  work 
like  "greenhorns"  who  had  never  seen  the  woods  before.  Per- 
haps they  would  refuse  to  work  more  than  eight  hours,  or  per- 
haps they  would  stay  on  the  job  ten  hours  for  a  few  days,  killing 
time.  When  they  had  a  few  days'  pay  earned  they  would  agree 
to  quit  at  the  end  of  eight  hours.  At  four  o'clock,  the  prearranged 
signal  being  given,  all  would  quit  and  go  to  camp.  The  usual 
result  was  that  the  whole  crew  would  be  fired.  In  a  few  days 
the  boss  would  get  a  new  crew  and  they  would  use  the  same 
tactics.  In  the  meantime  the  first  crew  was  repeating  the  per- 
formance in  other  camps.  When  a  boss  had  a  crew  he  got  prac- 
tically no  work  out  of  them,  and  what  little  he  did  get  was  done 
in  a  way  that  was  the  reverse  of  profitable.  With  a  little  practice 
the  job  strikers  became  experts  in  inefficiency.  A  foreman  al- 
ways thought  he  had  the  worst  crew  in  the  world  until  he  got 
the  next.  The  only  men  doing  any  real  work  were  the  cooks  and 
flunkeys  who  were  kept  on  the  jump  trying  to  satisfy  the  sharp- 
ened appetites  of  the  strikers. 

In  most  camps  the  job  strike  was  varied  at  times  by  the  inter- 
mittent strike,  the  men  walking  off  the  job  without  notice  and 
going  to  work  in  other  camps.  This  added  to  the  confusion  of 
the  bosses  as  they  never  knew  what  to  expect.  Never  before  had 
these  tactics  been  used  on  such  an  extensive  scale  in  the  United 
States.  The  companies  could  not  meet  them.  All  over  the  North- 
west the  lumber  industry  was  in  a  state  of  disorganization  and 
confusion.  There  was  no  hope  of  breaking  this  kind  of  strike 
by  starvation ;  much  against  their  will  the  companies  were  forced 
to  run  the  commissary  department  of  the  strike.  It  was  no  longer 
necessary  to  call  on  the  working  class  to  co'ntribute  their  hard- 
earned  dollars.  Job  strikes  are  not  financed  by  the  workers  but 
by  the  companies  against  which  they  are  directed. 

With  the  strikers  on  the  picket  line  the  "authorities"  could 
arrest  and  jail  them.  But  the  job  strikers  were  practically  safe 
from  arrest,  for  it  was  impossible  to  arrest  them  all,  and  there 
was  no  way  of  telling  which  were  the  most  active.  In  a  few 
cases  men  thought  to  be  the  leading  spirits  were  arrested  ill  the 
camps,  but  this  only  added  fuel  to  the  flames  of  discontent  and 
resentment,  and  its  effect  on  the  production  of  logs  was  anything 
but  encouraging  to  the  companies. 

It  might  be  supposed  that  under  these  circumstances  the  com- 
pa'nies  would  resort  to  a  general  lockout;  but  they  were  unable 
to  do  this,  as  there  was  an  active  demand  for  lumber  at  the  time 
and  their  reserve  supply  was  exhausted,  owing  to  the  long  strike 
off  the  job. 

This  state  of  affairs  lasted  all  winter.  If  the  lumber  barons 
had  any  hopes  the  men  would  tire  of  the  job  strike  they  were 
doomed  to  disappointment,  for  these  tactics  can  be  used  for  an 
indefinite  length  of  time. 

Shortly  after  the  strike  was  transferred  to  the  job  the  gov- 
ernment placed  Colonel  Disque,  with  headquarters  in  Portland, 


81 


in  charge  of  the  production  of  spruce  which  was  needed  in  large 
quantities  for  the  manufacture  of  airplanes.  Altho  spruce  pro- 
duction was  little  affected  by  the  strike,  the  lumber  companies 
purposely  held  it  back  to  discredit  the  strikers  and  make  it  ap- 
pear they  were  striking  against  the  government,  and  to  force  the 
government  to  aid  i'n  breaking  the  strike. 

With  the  object  of  breaking  up  and  displacing  the  Lumber 
Workers'  Industrial  Union,  Colonel  Disque  started  the  Loyal 
Legion  of  Loggers  and  Lumbermen.  This  organization  was  simp- 
ly a  strike-breaking  tool  for  the  plunder  patriots  and  its  ''loyalty'' 
was  only  a  cloak  for  scabbery. 

Colo'nel  Disque  put  soldiers  to  work  in  the  camps,  ostensibly 
to  aid  in  spruce  production;  but  as  soldiers  were  placed  in  many 
camps  where  not  a  stick  of  spruce  was  produced,  it  is  evident  the 
real  object  was  to  break  the  strike,  and  to  further  the  profiteer- 
ing schemes  of  favored  lumber  companies  by  supplying  them 
with  cheap  labor.  The  companies  took  advantage  of  the  posi- 
tion of  these  soldiers  to  exploit  them  to  the  limit.  They  paid 
them  practically  no  wages,  and  kept  them  in  a  state  of  chronic 
starvation,  the  food  being  unfit  to  eat.  If  they  rebelled  it  was 
mutiny.  Naturally  they  used  the  only  available  weapon — ^the 
slow-down  system. 

Colonel  Disque  and  the  lumber  barons  finally  began  to  realize 
they  were  up  against  a  method  of  fighting  in  which  they  were 
hopelessly  outclassed.  Every  method  formerly  successful  in 
breaking  strikes  had  been  tried  and  failed.  There  remained 
only  one  thing  to  do — concede  the  eight-hour  day.  March  1, 
1918,  after  official  announcement  by  Colonel  Disque  on  behalf 
of  the  lumber  barons,  the  eight-hour  day  was  recognized  in  the 
lumber  industry  of  the  Northwest. 

This  was  one  of  the  most  successful  strikes  in  the  history  of 
the  labor  movement.  The  efiScacy  of  the  tactics  used  is  further 
emphasized  by  the  fact  that  it  was  directed  against  one  of  the 
most  powerful  combinations  of  capital  in  the  world.  Two  hours 
had  been  cut  from  the  work  day.  Wages  had  been  raised.  Bath 
houses,  wash  houses  and  drying  rooms  had  been  installed.  The 
companies  were  forced  to  furnish  bedding.  Old-fashioned,  in- 
sanitary bunk-houses  were  displaced  by  small,  clean,  well-lighted 
and  ventilated  ones.  Instead  of  bunks  filled  with  dirty  hay,  beds, 
clean  mattresses,  bla'nkets,  sheets  and  pillows  changed  weekly 
were  furnished.  The  food  was  improved  a  hundred  per  cent. 
In  short,  practically  all  demands  were  won. 

The  lumber  barons  claimed  they  had  granted  these  conces- 
sions 'Voluntarily"  "for  patriotic  reasons."  In  reality,  they  had 
granted  nothing.  All  they  had  done  was  to  bow  to  the  Inevitable, 
and  officially  recognize  the  eight-hour  day  after  the  lumber 
workers  had  taken  it  by  direct  action.  The  L.  L.  L.  L.  also 
claimed  credit  for  the  victory.  This  was  the  joke  of  the  season. 
A  skunk  might  as  well  claim  credit  for  the  perfume  of  a  flower 
garden,  after  having  failed  to  pollute  it.  At  the  present  writing 
there  is  scarcely  a  trace  left  of  the  L.  L.  L,  h.   The  last  feeble 


82 


squeal  heard  from  this  conglomeration  of  boss-lovers  was  when 
they  went  on  record  in  Portland  as  favoring  a  reduction  of  wages. 

Soon  after  the  1917  strike  the  piece-work  or  "gyppo''  system 
was  introduced.  This  proved  very  injurious  to  unionism.  In 
October,  1919,  a  strike  started  at  Fern  wood,  Idaho,  caused  by 
a  raise  of  twenty-five  cents  a  day  in  the  price  of  board  and  a 
charge  of  one  dollar  a  week  for  blankets.  This  strike  slowly 
spread  over  the  short  log  country  of  Eastern  Washington,  Idaho 
and  Western  Montana.  At  this  time  there  were  many  piece 
workers  and  most  of  these  failed  to  join  the  strike.  Consequently 
the  tie-up  was  not  complete  and  the  strike  was  a  failure.  After 
this  strike  most  of  the  active  union  men  were  refused  work  or 
were  allowed  only  to  work  by  the  piece.  This  caused  a  great 
increase  in  gyppoing.  Piece-work  and  organization  do  not  mix. 
Wherever  the  gyppo  system  gets  a  foothold  union  activity  falls 
off. 

ANOTHER  A.  F.  OF  L.  FIASCO 

In  the  summer  of  1920  the  sawmill  workers  of  Minnesota, 
Wisconsin  and  Michigan  went  on  strike  for  the  eight-hour  day. 
A  considerable  percentage  were  members  of  the  International 
Timber  Workers'  Union,  affiliated  with  the  A.  F.  of  L.  Most 
were  induced  to  join  by  false  promises  of  financial  support,  and 
misleading  statements  by  officials 

The  I.  W.  W.  loyally  supported  the  strike  and  worked  for  its 
success  in  every  way  possible.  After  having  been  on  strike  nearly 
two  months  the  I.  T.  U.  members  were  ordered  back  to  work  by 
their  officials,  and  returned  to  the  sawmills  having  gained  abso- 
lutely nothing. 

At  the  present  time  the  outlook  in  the  lumber  industry  is 
good.  It  has  been  proved  beyond  all  question  what  can  be  ac- 
complished by  the  right  kind  of  organization,  and  the  sentiment 
for  industrial  unionism  is  steadily  growing.  The  principal  ob- 
stacle is  the  gyppo  or  piece-work  system.  This  has  proved  to  be 
the  most  dangerous  and  insidious  scheme  ever  introduced  to 
break  strikes  and  destroy  unionism.  Its  effect  is  to  make  a  man 
a  capitalistic-minded  scissorbill  and  cause  him  to  lose  interest  in 
the  union. 

However,  there  is  no  occasion  for  discouragement.  Gyppoing 
is  only  one  of  the  obstacles  that  must  be  met  and  overcome.  Like 
most  of  the  evils  that  afflict  the  human  race,  it  has  its  roots  in 
ignorance.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that,  with  the  right 
kind  of  education  and  the  organization  taking  a  consistent  stand, 
this  form  of  scabbery  can  be  abolished. 


83 


CHAPTER  11. 


HOW  THE  WORKERS  CAN  MANAGE  INDUSTRY. 

THE  objection  is  sometimes  raised  to  the  I.  W.  W.  program  of 
industrial  democracy,  that  industry  could  not  run  unless  fi- 
nanced by  capitalists,  and  that  without  bosses  to  employ  them 
workers  could  not  exist.  These  objectors  do  not  understand  the 
difference  between  capital  and  capitalists.  Capital  means  "stored 
up  labor  power,"  or  ''wealth  that  is  used  to  produce  more 
wealth."  Wealth  is  "nature's  material  adapted  by  labor  to  suit 
the  needs  of  man."  The  machinery  of  production,  such  as  saw- 
mills, steel  plants,  factories,  mining  machinery,  railroads,  is  cap- 
ital. The  money  used  to  buy  raw  material  and  to  pay  wages  is 
also  capital.  The  former  is  known  as  fixed  capital  and  the  latter 
las  circulating  capital.  Capital  is  necessary  to  carry  on  produc- 
tion. If  all  capital  were  destroyed,  industry  would  stop.  The 
great  majority  in  civilized  countries  would  die  from  cold  and  hun- 
ger. The  few  survivors  would  eke  out  a  precarious  existence 
by  the  crude  and  primitive  methods  of  the  prehistoric  savage. 
The  race  would  slowly  and  laboriously  have  to  rebuild  civiliza- 
tion, a  task  which  would  probably  take  centuries. 

Labor  is  the  creator  of  capital,  and  existed  before  capital; 
but  without  capital,  labor  could  produce  only  on  a  very  limited 
scale.  On  the  other  hand,  capital  wdthout  labor  could  produce 
nothing.  The  I.  W.  W.  does  not  propose  to  abolish  capital.  What 
it  does  propose  is  to  abolish  capitalists.  A  capitalist  is  one  who 
owns  capital  and  lives  off  profits  produced  by  workers.  Capital 
is  necessary  to  society;  but  the  private  ownership  of  capital  is 
not  necessary;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  responsible  for  most  of  the 
evils  from  which  society  suffers  today.  If  all  'capitalists  were  to 
pass  out  of  existence  industry  would  go  on  as  usual,  for  it  is  run 
entirely  by  workers.  With  a  system  of  industrial  democracy  cap- 
ital will  still  exist  but  it  will  be  owned  and  controlled  by  the  use- 
ful members  of  society  instead  of  by  a  parasite  class. 

Each  job  will  be  run  by  the  workers  as  at  present.  But  inn 
stead  of  being  controlled  by  a  foreman  representing  capitalists, 
it  will  be  controlled  by  a  foreman  elected  by  and  responsible  to 
the  workers,  and  subject  to  removal  at  any  time  he  fails  to  func- 
tion properly.  Everyone  familiar  with  industry  knows  that  on 
the  average  job  there  are  men  just  as  capable  as  the  foreman, 
and  usually  much  more  so.  As  a  rule  foremen  do  not  get  their 
jobs  on  account  of  superior  ability  as  workmen,  but  because  of 
their  willingness  to  do  the  dirty  work  of  the  capitalists  and  to 
put  the  interest  of  their  employers  before  that  of  their  fellow 
workers.   The  workers  will  elect  the  most  efficient  man  as  fore- 


84 


man  and  will  back  him  up  with  their  full  co-operation,  for  it  will 
be  to  their  interest  to  have  the  job  run  so  as  to  produce  the  max- 
imum of  results  with  the  minimum  of  efforts.  Under  capitalism 
the  interests  of  the  workers  and  employers  are  diametrically  op- 
posed. It  is  to  the  interest  of  the  workers  to  do  as  little  as  pos- 
sible. They  do  not  care  whether  the  job  is  run  efficiently  or  not 
so  long  as  they  get  their  wages.  Much  is  said  and  written  about 
efficiency,  but  the  profit  system,  by  causing  conflicting  interests 
on  every  job,  makes  real  efficiency  impossible.  With  industrial 
democracy  the  interests  of  all  will  be  identical  and  harmonious 
co-operation  will  result.  Peace,  prosperity  and  efficiency  will 
take  the  place  of  the  present  system  of  graft,  robbery,  incompe- 
tence and  fraud. 

Under  capitalism,  control  of  camps  and  sawmills  is  central- 
ized thru  foremen,  superintendents,  general  managers,  boards 
of  directors,  and  lumbermen's  associations  until  it  culminates  in 
the  Lumber  Trust.  Under  a  system  of  industrial  democracy,  con- 
trol of  the  lumber  industry,  instead  of  centering  in  the  hands 
of  parasites  and  their  tools,  will  center  in  workers'  committees 
culminating  in  the  general  executive  committee  of  the  Lumber 
Workers'  Industrial  Union.  The  industrial  unions  of  workers 
will  have  played  their  part  in  overthrowing  capitalism  and  will 
have  taken  on  their  new  functions  of  carrying  on  industry. 

With  the  abolition  of  the  profit  system,  management  of  all 
industries  will  be  greatly  simplified.  Under  capitalism  a  vast 
amount  of  energy  is  wasted  in  disposing  of  the  finished  product. 
Even  in  trustified  industries  there  is  still  considerable  competi- 
tion. The  sales  department  is  an  indispensable  part  of  every 
company.  High  salaried  salesmen  are  employed  and  much 
money  is  spent  for  advertising.  With  industrial  democracy  all 
this  waste  will  be  eliminated.  Systematic  production  and  distri- 
bution will  displace  the  haphazard  methods  of  capitalism. 

In  order  that  the  industry  may  be  run  more  easily  and  effi- 
ciently, it  is  probable  that  the  country  will  be  divided  into  sev- 
eral lumber  districts  corresponding  to  the  different  lumber  re- 
gions. 

Control  of  each  district  will  center  in  a  district  executive  com- 
mittee, which  will  be  elected  by  a  vote  of  all  lumber  workers  in 
the  district.  The  district  committees  will  be  responsible  to  the 
rank  and  file  and  can  be  removed  at  any  time  by  referendum 
vote.  Running  the  industry  by  districts  instead  of  by  companies 
will  eliminate  a  vast  amount  of  inefficiency  and  waste.  Expenses 
of  accounting  will  be  greatly  reduced.  Instead  of  a  separate  ac- 
counting system  for  each  of  the  many  companies  in  a  district, 
one  will  suffice  for  the  whole  district.  Under  capitalism  it  often 
happens  that  when  a  mill  runs  out  of  logs  it  shuts  down,  altho 
there  may  be  others  within  a  short  distance,  belonging  to  dif- 
ferent companies,  with  more  logs  than  they  can  use.  Under  in- 
dustrial democracy  no  mills  will  run  short,  for  logs  will  be  dis- 
tributed to  the  best  advantage  among  all  mills  in  the  district. 
The  district  executive  committeee  will  know  how  much  lumber 


85 


and  forest  products  of  all  kinds  are  produced  in  each  camp  and 
mill.  They  will  know  how  much  is  needed  in  all  other  indus- 
tries in  the  district;  and  it  will  be  their  business  to  see  that  the 
local  demand  is  supplied  as  far  as  timber  resources  of  the  dis- 
trict permit. 

The  function  of  the  general  executive  committee  of  the  in- 
dustrial union  will  be  to  exercise  a  general  supervision  over  the 
industry  as  a  whole.  They  will  keep  track  of  production  of  lum- 
ber and  all  forest  products,  and  the  demand  for  these  from  other 
industries.  They  will  know  how  much  is  produced  and  consumed 
in  each  district.  Orders  from  districts  where  demand  is  greater 
than  supply  will  be  placed  to  the  best  advantage  among  other 
districts.  The  G.  E.  C.  will  probably  be  divided  into  several  de- 
partments, such  as  the  Bureau  of  Production,  Bureau  of  Distri- 
bution, Bureau  of  Forestry,  Bureau  of  Statistics,  Bureau  in  charge 
of  the  Forest  Products  Laboratory,  etc.  Methods  used  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  world,  for  logging  and  manufacturing  lumber 
and  by-products  of  all  kinds,  will  be  studied  and  the  most  effi- 
cient and  economical  adopted.  Working  methods  will  be  judged 
from  the  viewpoint  of  the  best  possible  service  consistent  with 
the  safety  and  welfare  of  the  lumber  workers  and  the  conserva- 
tion of  the  timberlands.  Dangerous  and  wasteful  methods  will 
be  discarded. 

Expert  timber  cruisers  will  ascertain  the  amount  of  standing 
timber  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  means  will  be  devised  to 
use  it  to  the  best  advantage.  Scientific  re-forestation  will  be  car- 
ried on  with  a  view  to  making  each  district  supply  as  much  as 
possible  of  its  own  demand.  Logged-off  lands  near  the  great 
centers  of  population,  which  are  not  put  to  any  other  economic 
use,  will  be  re-forested  so  as  to  supply  the  demand  with  the  min- 
imum of  transportation.  Skilled  foresters  will  determine  the 
species  best  suited  to  soil  and  climate  of  different  sections.  Forest 
product  laboratories  will  ascertain  what  woods  are  best  suited  to 
different  uses,  and  how  by-products  can  be  used  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage. 

Destruction  of  forests  by  fire  and  insects  will  be  reduced  to 
a  minimum.  The  natural  resources  of  the  country  will  belong  to 
all  the  workers  and  it  will  be  to  the  interest  of  all  to  prevent 
destruction  of  their  own  property.  There  will  be  no  timber 
thieves  to  start  fires  to  drive  homesteaders  off  the  land,  to  put 
rivals  out  of  business  or  to  secure  logging  permits  on  govern- 
ment reserves.  The  present  fire  prevention  system  will  be  im- 
proved and  extended.  Airplanes,  wireless  telegraphy,  the  tele- 
graph, telephone  and  all  the  most  efficient  and  modern  devices 
for  detecting,  reporting,  and  fighting  fire  will  be  used. 

With  the  waste  and  destruction  of  capitalism  eliminated,  it 
is  probable  that  two  or  three  hours  of  work  a  day  will  be  suffi- 
cient to  supply  the  needs  of  society.  With  short  hours  and  im- 
proved methods  of  transportation,  it  will  no  longer  be  necessary 
for  loggers  to  live  in  camps.  In  thinly  settled  forest  regions,  vil- 
lages can  be  built,  ten  or  twenty  miles  apart.    Passenger  trains 


86 


can  be  run  into  the  woods  to  take  the  loggers  to  and  from  work. 
If  any  prefer  to  live  in  camp  they  will  be  perfectly  free  to  do  so, 
and  camps  will  be  built  and  run  for  the  health  and  comfort  of 
the  workers.  But  any  man  who  so  desires  will  be  free  to  have 
a  home  of  his  own. 

All  industries  are  interdependent.  One  cannot  run  without 
all  others.  Therefore  control  of  all  industries  must  be  central- 
ized. There  must  be  a  means  by  which  the  workers  in  each  in- 
dustry are  kept  in  touch  with  those  in  all  other  industries.  To 
this  end  all  industrial  unions  are  brought  togethei  under  the 
head  of  the  One  Big  Union  of  all  the  workers.  At  the  General 
Convention  of  this  One  Big  Union,  the  delegates  from  all  indus- 
trials unions  meet  on  a  common  ground.  Each  delegate  is  in- 
structed by 'the  rank  and  file  of  the  union  he  represents.  They 
compare  notes,  interchange  ideas,  adjust  differences  and  settle 
disputes  between  the  different  industrial  unions;  they  devise 
ways  and  means  and  lay  plans  by  which  they  can  co-operate  to 
the  best  advantage  to  run  industry  as  a  whole.  The  general  con- 
vention is  the  legislative  body  of  the  One  Big  Union,  But  all 
legislation  passed  must  be  ratified  by  referendum  vote  of  the 
rank  and  file.  The  general  executive  board  is  the  executive  body. 
This  is  composed  of  representatives  from  each  industrial  union. 
The  function  of  the  G.  E.  B.  is  to  exercise  general  supervision 
over  the  affairs  of  all  industries  between  conventions,  and  to  see 
that  all  legislation  passed  at  the  convention  is  carried  out.  It  is 
not  to  be  supposed  that  the  G.  E.  B.  is  endowed  with  autocratic 
powers  or  can  dictate  to  the  industrial  unions.  It  is  simply  a  com- 
mittee to  carry  out  the  will  of  the  rank  and  file  as  expressed  by 
referendum.  Its  members  can  be  removed  at  any  time  by  refer- 
endum vote  of  the  membership.  Each  industrial  union  will  run 
its  own  affairs  without  interference  from  the  G.  E.  B.  so  long  as 
it  lives  up  to  the  constitution  of  the  One  Big  Union.  The  G.  E.  B. 
will  only  act  in  case  of  disputes  between  industrial  unions  or  vio- 
lation of  the  constitution.  It  will  bear  the  same  relation  to  in- 
dustry as  a  whole  as  the  general  executive  committee  bears  to  an 
industrial  union. 

GOVERNMENT. 

The  objection  is  often  made  to  the  I.  W.  W.  that  it  does  not 
believe  in  government.  This  is  a  mistake.  The  I.  W.  W.  believes 
in  the  most  efficient  form  of  government  possible.  Some  revolu- 
tionists  object  to  the  word  government  on  the  ground  that  it  im- 
plies a  governing  class  and  a  class  that  is  governed.  The  word 
government  is  used  here  in  the  sense  of  self-government,  or  ad- 
ministration of  their  own  affairs  by  the  workers.  Carrying  on  in- 
dustry is  the  most  important  of  all  human  activities,  for  without 
the  industries  civilized  society  could  not  exist.  Therefore  the  most 
important  function  of  government  is  to  see  that  industry  is  car- 
ried on  in  such  a  way  that  the  greatest  possible  benefit  to  all 
the  people  will  result.  To  be  efficient,  a  government  must  be  con« 


^7 


stituted  on  the  basis  of  industrial,  instead  of  local  representa- 
tion, for  only  those  who  work  in  and  understand  the  industries, 
are  competent  to  legislate  concerning  them.  It  is  true  that  under 
industrial  democracy  none  but  workers  could  be  elected.  But  if 
these  workers  were  elected  on  the  basis  of  geographic  division 
without  regard  to  the  industries  in  which  they  worked,  it  would 
be  impossible  to  secure  a  balanced  representation  from  all  in- 
dustries. Too  many  would  be  elected  from  some  industries; 
others  would  not  be  represented  at  all.  All  industries  work  to- 
gether to  carry  on  production,  so  all  industries  must  be  repre- 
sented in  legislation  concerning  production. 

The  job  is  the  unit  of  production,  therefore  the  job  branch 
must  be  the  unit  of  government.  On  all  matters  concerning  that 
job  alone,  the  job  branch  will  have  all  full  power  to  legislate.  Mat- 
terns  concerning  the  members  of  one  industrial  union  in  one  dis- 
trict alone  will  be  handled  by  the  district  council  of  that  indus- 
trial union.  In  cities  and  districts  there  will  be  general  indus- 
trial district  councils  composed  of  delegates  representing  all  job 
branches  of  all  industrial  unions  in  the  district.  Their  function 
will  be  to  deal  with  matters  that  concern  the  members  of  all  in- 
dustrial unions  in  that  district  alone.  Matters  that  concern  all 
the  members  of  an  industrial  union  will  be  legislated  on  by  the 
general  convention  of  that  industrial  union.  Legislation  con- 
cerning all  industrial  unions,  or  society  as  a  whole,  will  be  passed 
by  the  general  convention  of  the  One  Big  Union  of  all  workers. 
The  present  government  of  the  United  States  is  a  govern- 
ment by  the  big  capitalists  who  control  industry.  Regard- 
less of  whatever  theoretical  forms  of  government  may  exist 
it  is  inevitable  that  those  who  control  industry  will  be  the  real 
government  because,  by-controlling  industry,  they  control  the 
source  of  all  human  power.  Under  industrial  democracy  the 
government  will  be  of  the  workers,  by  the  workers,  and  for  the 
workers.  It  will  also  be  a  government  by  those  who  control  in- 
dustry, for  the  workers  will  control  industry.  That  is  the  only 
system  under  which  a  genuine  democratic  government  is  pos- 
sible. The  following  is  a  rough  parallel  between  the  present 
capitalist  government  and  that  of  the  future  industrial  democ- 
racy. A  small  job  corresponds  to  a  town  or  village,  a  large  plant 
to  a  city,  and  its  different  shops  to  the  city  wards.  The  job  branch 
meeting,  corresponds  to  the  town  meeting,  the  job  committee  to 
the  board  of  aldermen,  and  its  chairman  to  the  mayor.  The  in- 
dustrial union  corresponds  to  the  State,  the  industrial  union  con- 
vention to  the  State  legislature,  and  the  chairman  of  the  general 
executive  committee  to  the  governor.  The  One  Big  Union  of  all 
workers  corresponds  to  the  nation,  the  General  Executive  Board 
to  the  cabinet  and  and  its  chairman  to  the  president.  An  interna- 
tional convention  composed  of  delegates  representing  workers' 
unions  of  different  countries  would  correspond  to  the  capitalist 
League  of  Nations. 


88 


THE  MONEY  QUESTION. 

When  Industrial  democracy  is  firmly  established  there  will 
be  no  need  of  money.  With  the  waste  of  capitalism  abolished, 
and  with  the  improvement  of  machinery,  the  material  necessities 
of  life — food,  clothing,  shelter  and  fuel — will  be  produced  in 
such  great  abundance  that  they  will  be  as  plentiful  as  water. 
Every  worker  will  take  what  he  needs,  just  as  everyone  drinks 
enough  water  to  satisfy  his  thirst.  In  all  cities,  towns,  villages, 
and  at  convenient  places  in  the  rural  districts  there  will  be  store- 
houses filled  with  everything  necessary  to  supply  man's  material 
wants.  With  improved  systems  of  communciation  and  distribu- 
tion a  telephone  call  will  bring  whatever  is  needed.  Proof  that  a 
worker  is  doing  his  share  in  production  will  entitle  him  to  what 
he  needs.  This  will  be  a  simple  matter.  No  complicated  system 
of  accounting  will  be  necessary.  For  instance,  each  worker  might 
have  a  due  book.  Every  day  he  worked,  a  stamp  could  be  affixed. 
By  simply  showing  a  paid-up  card,  he  could  take  what  he  needed. 
The  old,  the  immature,  and  the  sick  will  not  be  required  to  work. 
If  a  healthy  man  of  working  age  refuses  to  work  he  will  starve. 
There  will  be  no  incentive  to  take  more  than  is  needed.  A  man 
might  use  two  or  three  suits  of  clothes,  but  more  would  only  be 
an  incumbrance.  He  could  not  sell  them,  for  no  one  would  buy 
when  clothes  could  be  obtained  free  at  the  public  store-house. 
Some  will  take  more  than  others,  for  the  needs  of  all  are  not 
alike.  A  man  with  a  large  family  requires  more  than  a  single 
man.  Some  drink  more  than  others  at  public  drinking  fountains, 
but  no  one  objects,  for  there  is  enough  for  all.  Greed  for  gain  is 
a  mental  disease  caused  by  the  insecurity  of  capitalism.  In  a  free 
society  it  will  soon  disappear. 

Many  things  now  considered  luxuries  will  be  in  common  use. 
There  is  no  reason  why  every  worker  could  not  have  an  auto- 
mobile if  he  so  desired.  Such  luxuries  as  only  satisfy  a  perverted 
passion  for  vulgar  display  will  be  no  longer  produced.  Public 
buildings  will  embody  the  highest  skill  of  architects  and  mechan- 
ics, but  such  things  as  million  dollar  mansions  for  private  indi- 
viduals will  be  unknown.  Idleness  and  extravagance,  today 
looked  up  to  as  marks  of  distinction,  will  be  frowned  on  as  evi- 
dence of  degeneracy.  Such  things  as  cannot  be  within  reach  of 
all  who  want  them  will  not  be  produced  for  private  use.  If  a  man 
wanted  a  house  with  fifty  rooms  he  could  not  have  it.  But  no  sane 
man  would  want  such  a  house,  for  no  man  could  use  fifty  rooms. 
At  the  convention  of  the  One  Big  Union — the  legislative  body  of 
society,  which  will  probably  be  in  session  the  greater  part  of  the 
time — it  will  be  decided  how  many  hours  a  day  and  how  many 
days  a  year  it  will  be  necessary  to  work.  When  a  worker  puts 
in  the  required  number  of  days  he  will  be  free  to  do  as  he 
pleases  the  rest  of  the  time.  If  a  worker  desires  a  long  vacation 
he  can  pay  his  card  up  ahead  by  working  extra  shifts.  If  he 
wants  to  travel,  he  will  not  have  to  ride  the  rods  or  take  a  tie 
pass;  a  paid-up  card  will  entitle  him  to  transportation  by  boat, 
train  or  airplaine  to  any  part  of  the  world. 

89 


But  how  about  visiting  countries  still  under  capitalism?  There 
will  be  no  such  countries.  The  world  is  not  big  enough  for  cap- 
italism  and  industrial  democracy  to  exist  at  the  same  time.  Be- 
tween these  two  systems  there  is  a  fight  to  a  finish.  If  one  country 
alone  established  industrial  democracy  it  would  be  crushed  by 
the  economic  blockade.  The  different  countries  of  the  world  are 
closely  interlinked  by  industry  and  commerce.  One  is  dependent 
one  the  other  for  coal,  food,  raw  material,  and  manufactured 
products.  Most  countries  would  be  confronted  with  a  shut-down 
of  industry  and  consequent  starvation  if  isolated  from  the  others. 
Italy  would  face  a  coal  famine;  England  a  food  famine;  Ger- 
many would  run  out  of  food  and  raw  material.  Russia  is  depend- 
ent on  the  outside  world  for  locomotives,  agricultural  machinery 
and  manufactured  goods  of  many  kinds.  The  Russian  workers, 
helped  by  the  economic  power  of  the  workers  in  other  countries, 
have  succeeded  in  fighting  off  the  military  power  of  the  world 
capitalism;  but  economic  pressure  has  forced  them  to  compro- 
mise, and  capitalism  has  been  re-established  in  Russia.  The 
forces  that  make  for  revolution  are  at  work  in  all  countries. 
There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  capitalism  will  soon  receive 
its  deathblow  in  some  of  the  most  powerful  countries  in  the 
world.  It  will  then  be  crushed  in  the  remaining  countries  by 
internal  revolution,  backed  by  the  economic  power  of  the  industrial 
democracies. 

When  the  workers  of  all  countries  take  over  industry  it  is 
probable  that  national  boundary  lines  will  disappear.  Armies 
will  be  disbanded  and  navies  will  go  to  the  scrap  pile.  Under 
capitalism  all  wars  are  caused  by  competing  groups  of  capitalists 
struggling  for  possession  of  foreign  markets  in  which  to  dispose 
of  the  wealth  plundered  from  the  workers.  Wages  are  only  suf- 
ficient to  buy  back  a  fraction  of  the  wealth  produced.  Conse- 
quently a  surplus  piles  up,  factories  shut  down,  and  we  have 
panics,  unemployment  and  wars.  With  the  workers  getting  the 
full  product  of  their  labor  no  surplus  will  piled  up  for  the  benefit 
of  parasites ;  there  will  be  free  interchange  of  products  among  all 
parts  of  the  world,  and  all  incentive  to  war  will  have  disappeared. 

In  this  chapter  it  has  been  the  aim  of  the  writer  briefly  to  out- 
line a  practical  plan  by  which  industry  can  be  run  without  cap- 
italists, and  to  show  that  industrial  democracy  is  not  only  possible 
but  is  the  only  logical  and  reasonable  system.  It  is  impossible 
to  say  how  the  future  society  will  be  run  in  all  its  details;  but  it 
is  quite  easy  to  show  how  everything  can  be  done  and  to  answer 
any  objection  that  might  be  raised.  The  examples  given  are  merely 
tentative.  It  is  only  attempted  to  give  a  general  idea  of  how  the 
workers  can  control  industry  and  govern  themselves;  no  doubt 
much  better  ways  will  be  devised  when  the  time  comes. 


90 


CONCLUSION. 


The  object  of  this  pamphlet  is  to  impress  on  all  lumber  work- 
ers the  necessity  for  job  organization.  The  organized  lumber 
workers  are  fighting  the  common  enemy.  Organized  and  un- 
organized alike  are  benefited  by  their  struggle.  No  man  worthy 
of  the  name  wants  to  lie  down  while  others  fight  his  battles. 
The  most  valuable  asset  of  the  Lumber  Trust  is  the  ignorance, 
cowardice,  indifference  and  inertia  of  the  workers.  These  are 
what  give  the  timber  thieves  their  power  and  enable  them  to  resist 
the  militant  minority.  There  is  no  neutral  ground.  A  worker  who 
will  not  do  his  share  in  the  work  of  organization  is,  to  all  intents 
and  purposes,  a  scab.  True,  he  may  never  have  actually  worked 
as  a  strike-breaker,  but  if  all  workers  failed  to  organize  there  never 
would  be  any  strikes. 

By  industrial  organization  alone  can  the  power  of  capitalism 
be  broken  and  economic  freedom  gained.  With  *'big  business" 
the  real  government,  the  futility  of  political  action  is  evident. 
The  worthlessness  of  the  ballot  box  has  been  proven  many  times 
in  the  past.  So  long  as  control  of  industry  remains  in  the  hands 
of  the  capitalists,  armed  insurrection  is  suicidal.  The  workers 
have  no  military  organization,  no  arms  nor  the  training  to  use 
them.  The  American  "red  army'*  would  be  slaughtered  like  sheep 
by  the  highly  developed  machinery  of  war  in  the  hands  of  the  cap- 
italists and  their  tools.  The  power  of  the  workers  is  neither 
political  nor  military,  but  industrial.  By  organizing  industrially  we 
strike  at  the  very  root  of  capitalist  power — control  of  industry. 

Organization  implies  action.  Every  man  must  do  his  part. 
There  is  a  vast  difference  between  an  organized  body  of  men  and 
a  herd  of  deadheads  with  cards  in  their  suitcases.  Let  no  one 
imagine  he  is  keeping  up  his  end  by  simply  taking  out  a  card  and 
paying  his  dues,  or  that  by  paying  dues  he  is  hiring  someone  to  do 
his  fighting  for  him.  To  get  those  things  that  make*  life  worth 
living  some  effort  is  necessary.  Intelligent,  organized  effort  alone 
can  win.  To  get  concerted  action,  meetings  must  be  held  on  the 
job.  There  is  nothing  to  lose  and  everything  to  gain.  Far  better 
not  to  live  at  all  than  to  crawl  thru  life  as  a  meek,  humble,  servile 
and  submissive  work  animal,  whose  only  ambition  is  to  sell  his  labor 
power  for  a  lousy  bunk  and  rotten,  adulterated  food.  Let  every 
man  demonstrate  his  fitness  to  survive  by  doing  his  part  in  the 
fight  for  INDUSTRIAL  DEMOCRACY. 

"Life  is  strife  for  every  man. 

For  every  son  of  thunder. 
Then  be  a  lion,  not  a  lamb, 

And  don't  be  trampled  under." 


91 


Preamble  of  the  Industrial  Workers 
of  the  World 


The  working  class  and  the  employing  class  have  nothing  in  common. 
There  can  be  no  peace  so  long  as  hunger  and  want  are  found  among  mil- 
lions of  the  working  people  and  the  few,  who  make  up  the  employing  class, 
have  all  the  good  things  of  life. 

Between  these  two  classes  a  struggle  must  go  on  until  the  workers 
of  the  world  organize  as  a  class,  take  possession  of  the  earth  and  the  ma- 
chinery of  production,  and  abolish  the  wage  system. 

We  find  that  the  centering  of  the  management  of  industries  into  fewer 
and  fewer  hands  makes  the  trade  unions  unable  to  cope  with  the  ever  grow- 
ing power  of  the  employing  class.  The  trade  unions  foster  a  state  of 
affairs  which  allows  one  set  of  workers  to  be  pitted  against  another  set  of 
workers  in  the  same  industry,  thereby  helping  to  defeat  one  another  in  wage 
wars.  Moreover,  the  trade  unions  aid  the  employing  class  to  mislead  the 
workers  into  the  belief  that  the  working  class  have  interests  in  common 
with  their  employers. 

These  conditions  can  be  changed  and  the  interests  of  the  working  class 
upheld  only  by  an  organization  formed  in  such  a  way  that  all  its  members 
in  any  one  industry,  or  in  all  industries  if  necessary,  cease  work  when- 
ever a  strike  or  lockout  is  on  in  any  department  thereof,  thus  making  an 
injury  to  one  an  injury  to  all. 

Instead  of  the  conservative  motto,  "A  fair  day's  wage  for  a  fair  day's 
work,"  we  must  inscribe  on  our  banner  the  revolutionary  watchword, 
"Abolition  of  the  wage  system." 

It  is  the  historic  mission  of  the  working  class  to  do  away  with  cap- 
italism. The  army  of  production  must  be  organized,  not  only  for  the  every- 
day struggle  with  capitalists,  but  also  to  carry  on  production  when  cap- 
italism shall  have  been  overthrown.  By  organizing  industrially  we  are 
forming  the  structure  of  the  new  society  within  the  shell  of  the  old. 


The  Lumber  Barons  are  fat  with  profits  and  their  hands  are 
smeared  with  the  blood  of  workers. 


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listoncal  Catecliisni 

nnERicHN 

UNIDNIS 


Historical  Catechis 

of 

American  Unionism 


PRICE  25  CENTS 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE 

EDUCATIONAL  BUREAU  OF  THE 
INDUSTRIAL  WORKERS  OF  THE  WORLD 


1001  WEST  MADISON  ST.,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 


1 


Preface 

H  In  publishing  this  Catechism,  the  object  sought  has  been 
to  stimulate  a  desire  for  knowledge  of  American  labor  history. 
Labor  progress  we  believe  to  be  predicated  upon  a  wider  and 
deeper  knowledge  than  is  prevalent  among  the  workers  at  the 
present  time. 

This  pamphlet  is  only  an  outline  which  it  requires  a  study 
of  American  unionism  to  fill  in.  It  is  our  hope  that  those  who 
read  this  book  will  carry  their  investigations  further  afield. 
But,  even  as  it  is,  this  catechism  fills  a  long  felt  want.  It  will 
help  acquaint  those  who  read  it  with  some  things  they  should 
know.  The  works  from  which  this  condensation  is  made  are 
beyond  the  means  of  the  average  worker.  They  are  available 
at  the  public  libraries,  but  so  few  of  the  working  class  have 
either  the  time  or  the  inclination  to  visit  these  institutions  that 
it  was  deemed  advisable  to  publish  the  Catechism  as  an  ex- 
perime'ntal  step  in  working  class  education.  The  price  puts 
it  within  reach  of  even  the  poorest  worker. 

Whatever  shortcomings  the  pamphlet  may  have,  it  is  at 
least  an  effort  to  communicate  knowledge  to  the  workers  of 
America,  of  which  they  stand  in  great  need. 

It  is  intended  to  follow  the  Catechism  with  other  works 
dealing  with  American  unio'nism,  at  a  later  date.  Some  of 
these  are  even  now  being  prepared. 

We  submit  the  Historical  Catechism  of  American  Unionism 
to  our  fellow  workers  with  confidence  that  it  will  be  received 
as  a  worthy  contribution  to  American  labor  literature. 

Educational  Bureau  af  the  I.  W.  W. 


Historical  Catechism  of  the  American 

Unionism 


1.  What  is  a  labor  union? 

An  organization  formed  by  wage  workers  to  serve 
their  interest  as  wage  workers. 

2.  What  is  the  interest  of  the  worker  as  a  wage  laborer? 

To  secure  an  adequate  wage,  reasonable  hours,  and 
good  working  conditions  under  capitalism.  To  over- 
throw capitalism  is  the  objective  of  the  labor  move- 
ment. 

3.  Has  the  worker  no  other  interests  that  these? 

None  that  are  not  conditioned  upon  these. 

4.  Then  the  labor  union  has  no  other  function  than  to  en- 
able the  workers  to  regulate  their  jobs? 

None  whatever.  When  a  labor  union  attempts  to 
function  in  any  other  capacity  it  is  undertaking  some- 
thing foreign  to  its  purpose,  and  which  retracts  from 
its  usefulness  as  an  instrument  of  labor. 

5.  What  is  an  adequate  wage? 

A  wage  which  will  enable  the  worker  to  live  accord- 
ing to  a  decent  standard  and  to  make  provision  for 
periods  of  sickness  and  old  age. 

6.  Should  it  be  the  purpose  of  the  union  to  bring  about 
the  establishment  of  such  a  wage? 

That  is  the  purpose  of  a  union.  Together  with  the 
regulation  of  hours  and  conditions,  this  is  the  sole 
mission  of  a  union  in  the  every-day  struggle  on  the 
job. 

7.  Is  it  not  functioning  within  its  proper  sphere  when  it 
provides  for  sick  and  death  benefits? 

It  is  not.  If  the  union  functions  successfully  in  its 
proper  sphere — the  job— the  workers  will  be  able  to 
attend  to  their  own  sick  wants.  As  to  death  benefits, 
the  union  is  intended  to  serve  the  living  laborers; 
and,  as  a  union — a  body  with  an  economic  function — 
is  not,  at  least  should  not,  be  concerned  about  the 
dead. 

5 


8.  Is  this  not  a  heartless  view? 

Industry  is  not  sentimental,  and  we  are  trying  to 
study  the  labor  union,  as  an  instrument  of  labor.  If 
we  would  learn  the  truth  about  it,  we  must  be  pre- 
pared to  cast  aside  sentiment  and  prejudice  and  get 
down  to  bedrock-. 

9.  Do  not  unions  serve  a  good  purpose  by  paying  sick  and 
death  benefits? 

No.  We  must  consider,  in  dealing  with  unionism, 
that  we  are  dealing  with  an  instrument  designed  to 
serve  definite  purposes  in  industry,  and  nowhere  else. 
If  unions  provide  for  their  sick  and  injured,  to  the 
extent  that  they  do  so,  they  defeat  their  own  purpose, 
which  is  to  force  from  the  capitalists  a  return  which 
would  make  such  relief  by  unions  unnecessary.  This 
discourages  the  spirit  that  would  force  the  recognition 
that  proper  provision  for  the  workers  should  be  the  first 
charge  against  industry. 

10.  Then  you  are  opposed  to  the  workers  rendering  one  an- 
other mutual  assistance? 

No.  It  is  folly  for  labor  to  foster  the  belief  that 
the  union  can  function  successfully  in  two  opposite 
directions;  that  it  can  secure  an  adequate  return  from 
the  employers  by  lessening  the  need  for  it.  If  the 
workers  are  provided  for,  even  insufficiently,  during 
their  periods  of  sickness  or  unemployment  they  are  so 
protected,  however,  that  the  rigors  of  capitalism  do 
not  effect  them,  as  they  would  if  they  were  not  so 
protected;  and  consequently,  the  workers  are  not  in- 
spired to  fight  for  increased  wages,  or  to  find  a  so- 
lution for  unemployment.  If  these  features,  which 
have  been  added  to  unionism,  were  removed  it  is 
probable  that  even  the  conservative  unions  would  be 
inclined  to  address  themselves  to  the  problem  of  un- 
employment; they  would  devote  themselves  to  essential 
job  problems. 

11.  Would  it  be  better  for  unions  not  to  have  such  features? 

Decidedly.  If  the  unions  did  not  have  such 
features  they  would  have  to  function  more  aggressively 
for  the  workers  in  industry.  They  would  necessarily 
strive  for  higher  wages,  shorter  hours  and  better  con- 
ditions. 


6 


12.  And  then? 

Well,  with  better  wages,  the  workers  could  make 
better  provision  for  themselves;  with  shorter  hours 
more  of  them  would  be  employed,  and  more  leisure 
for  self-culture  would  be  available;  with  better  con- 
ditions less  accidents  would  occur;  the  percentage  of 
sick  would  be  enormously  reduced;  there  would  be 
fewer  victims  of  industrial  diseases,  etc. 

13.  Then  the  unions  only  defeat  their  own  purposes  by 
adopting  these  policies? 

Exactly.  Whenever  a  union  tries  to  functio'n  any- 
where else  than  on  the  job,  it  is  neither  successful  as  a 
uniom  nor  in  any  other  capacity.  The  union  is  de^ 
signed  for  one  purpose — the  regulation  of  the  job  in 
the  interest  of  the  workers.  It  cannot  function  in  any 
other  manner.  It  can  no  more  be  a  union  and  an 
insurance  society  at  the  same  time,  than  a  saw  can 
be  a  soldering  iron,  or  a  plumber  can  wipe  a  lead 
join  with  a  shovel. 

14.  Should  a  union  function  only  in  industry? 

Absolutely.  When  a  union  confines  itself  to  dealing 
directly  with  industrial  problems,  other  things  will  be 
added  to  its  achievements.  The  union  is  the  key  with 
which  the  workers  can  unlock  the  treasure  house  of  iti- 
dustry  and  solve  all  their  problems. 

15.  Should  the  employer  be  permitted  in  a  labor  union? 

No  more  than  a  coyotte  in  a  sheepfold. 

16.  Why? 

Because  the  interest  of  the  boss  is  to  that  of  the 
worker  as  the  interest  of  the  coyotte  is  to  that  of  the 
sheep.  The  union  cannot  serve  the  worker  and  the 
boss  at  the  same  time,  though  many  of  the  workers 
believe  it  can  be  done. 

17.  Why  can't  the  union  serve  both  the  employer  and  the 
employes? 

Because  their  interests  are  opposed.  The  boss  wants 
low  wages,  while  the  workers  want  high  wages;  the 
employer  wants  the  workers  to  speed  up,  while  the 
worker  does  not  wish  to.  So  that  it  would  be  impossible 
for  the  union  to  serve  these  opposing  interests. 

18.  Do  not  some  unions  admit  the  employers? 

These  are  not  labor  unions.    They  are  employers' 


7 


unions,  no  matter  what  they  call  themselves,  or  are 
alleged  to  be. 

19.  Well,  how  about  letting  the  bosses  join  the  union? 

Not  yet.  By  the  bosses,  of  course,  you  mean  super- 
intendents, foremen,  etc.  Their  viewpoint  is  the  same 
as  the  employers*,  or  they  would  not  be  holding  their 
present  jobs.  In  the  discussion  of  questions  relating 
to  the  job  they  would  be  putting  up  and  contending 
for  the  employers'  side,  thus  preventing  the  advance- 
ment of  the  workers'  interest.  They  would,  therefore, 
prove  a  hindrance  to  the  union. 

20.  Is  there  not  an  employers'  side  to  every  industrial  ques- 
tion? 

Well,  if  there  is,  let  them  look  out  for  their  side. 
We  have  all  we  can  do  to  attend  to  ours. 

21.  Then  you  have  no  regard  for  the  employers'  interest? 

The  only  regard  to  be  felt  for  them  is  to  regard  them 
as  our  enemies,  economically. 

22.  Should  they  be  fought  all  the  time? 

That  is  what  a  union  is,  if  it  is  anything  at  all — a 
fighting  weapon  of  the  workers.  People  do  not  take 
fighting  weapons  to  a  picnic;  they  do  take  them  to  a 
battlefield — and  that  is  just  what  modern  industry  is. 
There  is  an  unceasing  battle  between  the  working 
class  and  the  employing  class.  The  union  is  the  weapon 
with  which  the  workers  wage  battle  in  behalf  of  their 
interests. 

23.  What  do  we  know  about  the  earliest  unions  in  the 
United  States? 

Very  little  is  known  of  the  earliest  unions  in  the 
United  States.  The  printers  are  known  to  have  or- 
ganized for  and  won  strikes  in  New  York  (1776)  and 
Philadelphia  (1786).  The  carpenters  of  Philadelphia 
struck  for  a  10-hour  day  in  1791.  Shoemakers  in  Phila- 
delphia organized  in  1792,  but  no  records  of  that  union 
have  been  preserved.  They  organized  again  in  1794. 
This  union  was  known  as  the  Federal  Society  of  Cord- 
wainers.  It  lasted  until  1806,  when  there  was  a  con- 
viction for  conspiracy.  This  union  conducted  the  first 
organized  strike  in  America  of  which  there  is  record. 
The  printers  of  New  York  organized  the  Typographical 
Society  in  1794.   This  union  lasted  two  and  one-half 


8 


years.  Later  there  were  organized  the  Franklin  Typo- 
graphical Society  (1799-1804)  and  the  New  York  Typo- 
graphical Society  (1809-1818).  The  shoemakers  and 
printers  were  unquestionably  the  pioneers  in  developing 
unionism  among  the  wage  workers  in  the  United  States. 

The  Baltimore  tailors  struck  successfully  in  1795, 
1805  and  1807.  There  were  sailors'  strikes  and  ship- 
builders' strikes  in  Massachusetts  in  1817,  and  a  sailors' 
strike  in  New  York  in  March  1800. 

The  first  twenty-five  years  of  the  19th  century  mark 
a  period  during  which  the  wage  working  elements  in 
the  U.  S.  were  striving  to  develop  some  means  for 
protecting  themselves  as  workers.  This  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  dawn  of  American  unionism. 

24.  Upon  what  were  the  conspiracy  charges,  referred  to 
in  the  preceding  question,  based? 

Upon  the  grounds  that  the  Federal  Society  of  Cord- 
wainers  was  an  illegal  and  criminal  combination  for 
the  purpose  of  raising  wages. 

25.  What  was  the  result? 

In  the  Philadelphia  case  (1806)  the  jury  returned 
a  verdict  of  "guilty  of  a  combination  to  raise  wages." 
The  New  York  case  went  against  the  shoemakers.  In 
one  of  the  Baltimore  cases  the  jury  found  for  the 
journeymen.  The  Pittsburgh  case  (1814)  was  com- 
promised, the  shoemakers  paying  the  costs  of  the  case 
and  going  back  to  work  at  the  old  rate  of  wages, 
practically,  if  not  legally,  a  defeat.  In  the  Pittsburgh 
case  (1815)  fines  were  imposed  without  imprisonment. 

26.  Were  the  courts  biased  in  these  trials? 

Professor  Commons'  History  of  Labor  in  the  United 
States  says:  "On  the  whole,  the  judges,  especially  in 
the  Philadelphia  and  Pittsburgh  cases,  sided  against 
the  journeymen." 

27.  Were  these  trials  of  local  importance  only? 

Commons'  history  is  here  quoted:  "That  other  em- 
ployers of  labor  were  much  interested  is  evident  from 
the  dedication  of  the  Pittsburgh  case  of  1815,  penned 
by  the  reporter,  *To  the  Manufacturers  and  Mechanics... 
This  Trial  Involving  Principles  essential  to  their  interest, 
is  humbly  dedicated  by  their  Obedient  Servant . . . 

"Similarly,  in  his  preface  the  reporter  remarks  that: 


9 


Terhaps  he  would  not . . .  have  undertaken  to  report 
it,  but  for  the  pressing  solicitations  of  many  respectable 
Mechanics  and  Manufacturers  . . .  The  verdict  of  that 
jury  is  most  important  to  the  manufacturing  interests 
of  the  community;  it  puts  an  end  to  those  associations 
which  have  been  so  prejudicial  to.  the  successful  enter- 
prize  of  the  capitalists  of  the  western  country.  But 
this  case  is  not  important  to  this  country  alone;  it 
proves  beyond  possibility  of  doubt  that,  notwithstand- 
ing the  adjudications  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia, 
there  still  exists  in  those  cities  combinations  which 
extend  their  deleterious  influence  to  every  part  of  the 
union.  The  inhabitants  of  those  cities,  the  manufac- 
turers particularly,  are  bound  by  their  interests,  as  well 
as  the  duties  they  owe  (the)  community,  to  watch  those 
combinations  with  a  jealous  eye,  and  to  prosecute  to 
conviction,  and  subject  to  the  penalties  of  the  law 
conspiracies  so  subversive  to  the  best  interests  of  the 
country.'  " 

28.  Were  these  the  first  cases  where  aid  of  the  courts  was 
invoked  by  the  employers? 

The  Commons'  history  states  that  ''These  prosecu- 
tions were  the  first  in  this  country  in  which  the  em- 
ployers invoked  the  aid  of  the  courts  in  their  struggle 
with  labor";  and  it  adds:  *lt  was  brought  out  in  the 
testimony  that  the  masters  financed,  in  part  at  least, 
the  New  York  and  Pittsburgh  prosecutions." 

29.  Does  not  this  look  as  though  the  bosses  were  early  alive 
to  their  class  interests? 

Indeed,  it  does.  It  shows,  moreover,  that  the  courts 
showed  their  class  character  at  an  early  date. 

30.  How  did  the  workers  take  these  decisions? 

That  we  have  organizations  today  proves  that  they 
regarded  them  as  unjust.  In  the  later  cases  the  right 
to  organize  was  conceded,  but  the  means  by  which 
organizations  sought  to  achieve  their  aims  were  de- 
clared illegal  because  they  injured  the  employers,  and 
interfered  with  the  rights  of  others  who  would  take 
jobs  against  the  rules  laid  down  by  the  unions.  Pretty 
much  the  same  arguments  as  are  used  by  the  open- 
shoppers  today. 


10 


31.  How  were  strikes  conducted  in  those  days? 

As  the  unions  were  local  in  scope  and  composed 
of  skilled  mechanics,  the  very  earliest  attempts  to  win 
concessions  from  the  employing  tradesmen  were  to  re- 
solve the  union  into  a  co-operative  concern  competing 
for  business  with  their  former  employers.  Where  this 
policy  was  not  adopted,  it  was  customary  for  those  who 
remained  in  employment  to  support  those  who  were 
battling  for  the  points  at  issue,  which  were  wages  and 
hours.  The  shoe-makers,  printers  and  carpenters  very 
early  adopted  a  system  of  providing  funds  from  which 
striking  members  were  supported.  The  policy  of  "non- 
intercourse''  (boycott)  was  a  very  effective  weapon 
with  the  early  unionists,  who  employed  it  seriously 
and  applied  it  vigorously.  They  would  not  patronize 
a  boarding  house  where  scabs  were  admitted;  buy  from 
a  store  that  supplied  them  with  goods;  nor  have  any- 
thing to  do  with  anyone  who  had  dealings,  social  or 
otherwise,  with  a  scab. 

32.  What  did  the  early  unions  mostly  concern  themselves 
with? 

Wages  and  hours.  As  the  apprentice  system  had 
a  bearing  upon  wages,  it  received  much  attention. 
Part-time  workers,  in  the  sense  that  only  part  of  the 
time  required  for  apprenticeship  has  been  served, 
worked  for  lower  rates  than  certified  journeymen. 
This  resulted  in  lowering  the  wages  and  throwing  suf- 
ficient of  the  journeymen  out  of  employment  to  make 
it  a  burning  question. 

33.  How  did  the  workers  propose  to  deal  with  these  ques- 
tions? 

They  sought  to  establish  the  "closed  shop",  wherein 
they  believed  these  questions  might  be  more  easily  dealt 
with. 

34.  Did  they  have  closed  shop  employments  in  those  days? 

The  shoemakers  union  would  not  permit  its  members 
to  work  in  any  shop  where  non-union  men  were  em- 
ployed, nor  for  any  employer  who  hired  non-union 
help.     The  printers  were  opposed  to  scabs  also. 

35.  Are  there  any  instances  where  scabs  were  successfully 
barred  from  shops? 

In  Philadelphia,  New  York  and  Pittsburg  the  shoe- 


11 


makers  compelled  the  outsiders  to  join  them  as  soon 
as  they  came  to  town.  New  York  shoemakers  imposed 
a  heavy  fine  for  failure  to  do  so.  Pittsburg  shoe- 
makers exercised  jurisdiction  over  men  not  members  of 
the  union,  who  they  demanded  should  attend  the 
meeting  at  which  charges  were  preferred  against  them 
and  defend  themselves.  Employers  had  to  pay  fines 
imposed  against  scabs. 

36.  Outside  of  strike  funds  did  the  early  unions  have  benefit 
features? 

Yes.  Almost  from  their  first  appearance  they  had 
sick  and  death  benefit  features.  The  printers  allowed 
benefits  "to  sickly  and  distressed  members,  their  widows 
and  children .  .  .  .provided,  that  such  sum  shall  not 
exceed  $3.00  per  week."  The  shoemakers  allowed 
"$3.00  per  week'*,  although  it  was  "not  an  article  of  the 
constitution.'' 

37.  What  effect  did  these  benefit  features  have  on  the 
unions? 

Commons'  history  says  of  the  Philadelphia  Typo- 
graphical Society  that  "it  willingly  risked  its  status  as  a 
trade-regulating  body  in  order  to  secure  its  benefit 
funds.  Likewise,  the  New  York  printers,  in  their 
eagerness  to  make  their  benefit  funds  secure,  in  1818, 
agreed  to  surrender  their  trade  union  functions  com- 
pletely, when  the  legislature  declined  to  grant  an  act 
of  incorporation  on  any  other  terms". 

38.  Did  the  employers  organize  at  this  time  at  all? 

Yes.  The  Philadelphia  Society  of  Master  Cord- 
wainers  was  organized  in  1789.  The  master  shoe- 
makers of  Pittsburg  were  organized  in  1814.  The 
master  printers  were  organized  in  New  York,  Phila- 
delphia and  other  towns.  The  bosses  are  never  behind- 
hand with  organization. 

39.  What  was  the  average  length  of  a  working  day  in  those 
times  ? 

The  working  time  extended  from  sunrise  to  sunset 
for  all  workers,  with  stoppage  of  work  for  the  morning 
and  mid-day  meals.  This  applied  during  the  entire 
year,  so  that  the  length  of  the  workday  varied  with 
the  season.  The  workday  was  longer  in  the  summer 
time  than  in  the  winter. 


12 


I 

40.  Did  not  this  method  give  the  employers  a  great  ad- 
vantage in  the  summer  as  compared  with  the  winter? 

Undoubtedly. 

41.  How  did  the  working  day  come  to  be  so  measured? 

Farming,  which  was  then  the  prevailing  industry, 
was  carried  on  with  sun  to  sun  as  the  measure  of  the 
day.  The  idea  prevailed  that  this  practice  was  neces- 
sary in  manufacturing  as  well.  Besides,  it  was  believed 
that  shortening  the  workday  would  have  "an  injurious 
effect"  in  all  modes  of  business,  agriculture  and  com- 
merce. Moreover,  lowering  the  working  time  would 
be  "opening  a  wide  door  for  idleness  and  vice,**  and 
would  destroy  the  condition  of  the  workers,  "made 
happy  and  prosperous  by  frugal,  orderly,  temperate  and 
ancient  habits".  As  usual,  even  in  our  day,  the  de- 
mand for  a  shorter  workday  was  attributed  to  foreign- 
ers, "bringing  with  them  their  feelings  and  habits,  and 
a  spirit  of  discontent  and  insubordination  to  which  our 
Native  Mechanics  have  hitherto  been  strangers".  (1821) 

42.  What  was  the  first  attempt  made  by  any  workers  to 
shorten  the  workday? 

That  of  the  Union  Society  of  Carpenters  in  Phila- 
delphia, in  May  1791.  The  men  demanded  a  working 
day  "from  6  o'clock  in  the  morning  to  six  in  the 
evening." 

43.  What,  besides  the  long  workday,  brought  on  the  1791 
carpenters'  strike? 

The  master  carpenters  paid  by  the  day  in  summer, 
and  work  was  done  at  piece  rates  in  the  winter. 

44.  What  other  ten^hour  manifestations  have  we  any  record 
of. 

Journeymen,  Millwrights  and  Machine  Workers  of 
Philadelphia  (1822);  Boston  House  Carpenters  (1825), 
who  struck  in  the  busy  season  as  there  was  a  great 
demand  for  carpenters  owing  to  "the  recent  calamitous 
fire"  and  "great  public  improvements".  They  "believed 
the  existing  wages  derogatory  to  the  principles  not  only 
of  justice,  but  of  humanity",  and  "that  ten  hours  faith- 
ful labor  shall  hereafter  constitute  a  day's  work." 
They  also  contended  that  "on  the  present  system,  it  is 
impossible  for  a  Journeyman,  Housewright  and  House 
Carpenter  to  maintain  a  family.. ..with  the  wages  now 
given". 

13 


45.  What  did  the  employers  reply? 

They  replied  to  the  effect  that  this  "combination  for 
the  purposes  of  altering  the  time  of  commencing  and 
terminating  their  daily  labour,  from  that  which  has 

been  customary  from  time  immemorial  (is)  fraught 

with  numerous  and  pernicious  evils". ...would  have  an 
"unhappy  influence. ...by  seducing  them  from  that  course 
of  industry  and  economy  of  time''  to  which  it  was 
desirable  to  "enure"  apprentices.  Moreover,  it  would 
expose  the  workmen  "to  many  temptations  and  im- 
provident practices"  from  which  they  would  be  deliver- 
ed by  'working  from  sun  to  sun".  These  early  bosses 
were  pious  old  ducks,  for  one  reason  why  they  opposed 
the  shorter  workday  was  because  "we  fear  and  dread 
the  consequences  of  such  a  measure  upon  the  morals 
and  well-being  of  society".  They  were  patriotic,  too, 
regular  100  per  centers.  They  did  not  believe  "this 
project  to  have  originated  with  any  of  the  faithful  and 
industrious  Sons  of  New  England,  but  are  compelled 
to  consider  it  an  evil  of  foreign  growth,  and  one  which 
we  hope  will  not  take  root  in  the  favored  soil  of 
Massachusetts".  "And  especially",  they  added,  "that 
our  city  the  early  rising  and  industry  of  whose  in- 
habitants are  universally  proverbial,  may  not  be  in- 
fected with  the  unnatural  production."  That  is  how 
the  bosses  regarded  unions,  and  the  demands  of  work- 
ers, one  hundred  years  ago. 

46.  Were  the  bosses  not  concerned  about  the  effect  of  the 
shorter  workday  upon  themselves? 

It  is  the  employers'  manner,  and  very  effective  stra- 
tegy as  well,  to  disguise  their  material  interests  with 
morality  and  patriotism,  such  as  you  read  in  the  answer 
to  the  preceding  question;  but  at  bottom  their  real 
concern  is  always  for  their  material  interests.  So  we 
find  the  real  (economic)  reason  buried  beneath  their 

moral  and  patriotic  mouthings  "if  such  a  measure 

(10-hour  day)  would  ever  be  just,  it  cannot  be  at  a  time 
like  the  present,  when  builders  have  ge'nerally  made  their 
engagements  and  contracts  for  the  season."  Then  to 
show  their  disinterestedness  (?)  and  broad  Christian 
spirit  (?)  they  announce  that  they  will  not  only  not 
grant  the  10  hour  day,  but  "that  we  will  employ  no 


14 


man  who  persists  in  adhering  to  the  project  of  which 
we  complain/'    Here  is  the  blacklist  as  early  as  1825. 

47.  Did  the  Boston  Carpenters  win  their  strike? 

They  did  not. 

48.  Why? 

Because  the  business  elements  combined  against  them. 
A  meeting  of  the  business  interests  was  convened  which 
declared  that  the  proceedings  of  the  journeymen  were 
"a  departure  from  the  salutary  and  steady  usages  which 
have  prevailed  in  this  city,  and  all  New  England,  from 
time  immemorial."  "If  this  confederacy,"  they  added, 
in  appealing  to  fellow  employers,  "should  be  coun- 
tenanced by  the  community,  it  must,  of  consequence, 
extend  to  and  embrace  all  the  Working  Classes  in 
every  department  in  Town  and  Country."..  This  meet- 
ing also  decided  to  support  the  Master  Carpenters 
"at  whatever  sacrifice,  or  inconvenience,  and  to  this 
end  extend  the  time  for  the  fulfillment  of  their  con- 
tracts, and  even  to  suspend,  if  necessary,  building  alto- 
gether." They  could  foresee,  they  said,  "No  loss  or  in- 
convenience arising  from  such  suspensions,  equal  to 
what  must  result  from  permitting  such  combinations  to 
become  effectual". 

49.  Were  they  determined  to  head  off  unionism? 

Apparently.  From  the  standpoint  of  their  relation- 
ship they  could  see  what  the  workers  should  do,  and 
they  feared  that  organization  "would  extend  to  and  em- 
brace all  the  Working  Classes  in  every  department  in 
Town  and  Country".  They  saw  also  that  "no  loss  or 
inconvenience — was  equal  to  what  must  result  from 
permitting  such  organizations  to  be  (come)  effectual." 
Note:  It  is  well  for  the  student  to  bear  this  in  mind 
v/hen  considering  the  later  unions  in  their  structure, 
policies,  and  the  aims  which  they  sought  to  achieve. 
Remember  that  the  early  capitalist  class  saw  clearly  the 
necessity  of  working  class  organization,  and  feared  it. 
The  capitalists  have  lost  none  of  their  cunning,  and 
have  never  had  scruples  or  a  conscience  to  lose.  They 
wanted  the  workers  divided,  and  they  are  divided. 
Division  is  organized  in  the  ranks  of  the  workers. 

50.  How  did  these  Boston  carpenters  fight  their  employers? 

They  organized  a  co-operative  and  advertised  to  do 


15 


work  at  25  per  cent  less  tha'n  the  prices  charged  by  the 
masters. 

51.  Was  their  co-aperative  venture  a  success? 

Evidently  not,  as  they  lost  the  strike.  We  agree  with 
Commons'  history  that  "co-operation  is  an  indication, 
not  of  trade  unionism,  but  of  the  failure  of  trade  union 
policies."  We  shall  find  much  evidence  in  this  respect  at 
a  later  period.  Co-operation  has  been  used  (1)  for  the 
purpose  of  retaliation  on  the  employers,  and  (2)  to 
attain  a  position  where  permanency  of  employment 
might  be  achieved.  Up  to  now  it  has  not  proved  suc- 
cess:^ ul. 

52.  Were  the  employers  permitted  to  join  the  early  unions? 

As  the  tools  of  the  period  were  comparatively  simple 
every  journeyman  expected  at  some  time  to  become  a 
master.  This  feeling  tended  to  cloud  their  perceptions 
as  to  the  necessity  of  keeping  their  unions  clear  of  any 
influence  which  might  tend  to  mislead  them  in  the 
enunciation  of  principles  and  the  formation  of  policies. 
It  had  the  tendency  to  temper  the  demands  of  the 
day  with  the  idea  of  its  effect  upon  their  own  possible 
changed  relation  upon  the  morrow.  This  was,  and  still 
remains,  a  dangerous  influence  in  organizations  of  wage- 
earners.  Even  though  the  employer  might  be  barred 
from  membership,  which  was  not  the  case,  the  in- 
fluence of  his  viewpoint  still  commanded  an  important 
place  in  the  deliberations  of  these  early  unions. 

53.  How  long  did  this  condition  obtain? 

With  a  few  modifications  it  has  remained  up  to 
quite  recent  times.  The  physical  absence  of  the  em- 
ployer is  not  important  as  long  as  his  mentality  gov- 
erns in  union  affairs.  This  is  the  case  in  the  A.  F.  of  L. 
and  "independent"  u*nions  today. 

54.  Were  there  no  exceptions? 

There  was  one  exception,  an  employing  printer  was 
expelled  by  the  New  York  Typographical  Society  in 
1817.  According  to  Commons'  history,  which  quotes 
from  the  No.  6  Official  Annual  of  the  Typographical 
Union,  March  1892:  "  ^Experience  teaches  us  that  the 
actions  of  men  are  influenced  almost  wholly  by  their 
interests,  and  that  it  is  impossible  that  a  Society  (union) 
can  be  well  regulated  and  useful  when  its  members  are 


16 


actuated  by  opposite  motives,  and  separate  interests. 

This  society  is  a  society  of  journeymen  printers ;  and  as 
the  interests  of  the  journeymen  are  separate  and  in  some 
respects  opposite  to  those  of  the  employers,  we  deem 
it  improper  that  they  should  have  any  voice  or  influence 
in  our  deliberations/  " 

55.  Is  that  not  clearly  a  recognition  of  the  class  struggle? 

It  is  a  clear  statement,  in  all  probability  due  to  the 
influence  of  some  member  or  sm.all  group.  But  all  the 
organizations  accepted  the  doctrine  that  "the  interests 
of  the  capitalists  and  v^age  earners  are  mutual  and 
harmonious". 

56.  How  do  we  know  that  this  is  true? 

Here  are  some  expressions  that  go  far  to  prove  it: 
Typographical  Society  (1802),  "We  cherish  the  hope, 
that  the  time  is  not  far  distant,  when  the  employer  and 
employed  will  vie  with  each  other,  the  one,  in  allowing 
a  competent  salary,  the  other,  in  deserving  it." 

Philadelphia  Journeymen,  pressmen  (1816)  in  pre- 
senting a  scale  of  prices  to  the  employing  printers: 
"The  pressmen  are  induced,  from  a  duty  which  they 
owe  themselves  to  call  your  serious  attentions  to  what 

they  here  represent  They  therefore  anticipate  that 

you  will,  with  the  liberality  becoming  your  profession, 
give  your  decided  approbation  to  the  annexed  scale  of 
prices.    Your  opposition  we  ought  not  to  expect." 

It  was  generally  held  by  the  early  unionists  that 
employers  and  employed  held  interests  in  common.  Says 
the  Commons'  history,  "There  was,  indeed,  as  yet  no 
'labor  philosophy'  The  skilled  mechanic  might  ex- 
pect to  become  a  master,  and  it  did  not  occur  to  him  to 
use  his  organization  to  abolish  the  wage  system.*' 

57.  Was  there  any  connection  between  the  unions  in  the 
different  towns? 

Sometimes  the  unions  corresponded  with  one  another 
upon  their  purposes,  informing  each  other  about  their 
demands  and  exchanging  fraternal  greetings.  Some- 
times, they  rendered  financial  assistance  to  one  another, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  Philadelphia  printers  who  sent 
$83.50  to  New  York  to  aid  in  relieving  "distressed" 
members.  They  also  used  to  send  out  lists  of  scabs  to 
their  organized  fellow  craftsmen  in  other  cities.  At  times 
they  notified  other  unions  of  their  wage  demands. 

17 


58.  Was  there  ever  joint  action  by  these  unions? 

In  particular  trades  there  may  have  been.  In  1809 
the  shoemakers  struck  against  one  firm.  This  firm 
farmed  out  its  work  to  other  manufacturers.  To  meet 
this  situation,  the  shoemakers  called  out  every  man  in 
the  trade.  It  was  a  general  strike  against  the  master 
shoemakers. 

59.  What  became  of  these  early  unions? 

Following  the  Napoleonic  wars  an  industrial  depres- 
sion swept  through  the  United  States.  Goods  manu- 
factured in  Europe  were  dumped  into  this  country. 
Unemployment  made  ravages  among  the  working  class, 
and  in  the  resulting  competition  the  unions  were  de- 
stroyed. It  is  stated  that  in  Philadelphia  alone  out  of 
9,762  workmen  employed  in  1816,  about  7,500  were 
discharged  in  1819.  It  is  authentically  reported  that 
in  1819  approximately  20,000  workers  were  seeking 
work  in  Philadelphia,  a  like  number  in  New  York,  sCnd 
10,000  in  Baltimore. 

60.  How  long  did  the  panic  last? 

It  reached  its  height  about  1820.  Thereafter  there 
was  gradual  improvement. 

61.  What  important  event  took  place  about  this  time? 

Steam  power  had  been  successfully  applied  to  water 
transportation.  This  made  the  navigation  of  western 
waters  commercially  more  advantageous.  There  is  said 
to  have  been  108  steam-propelled  vessels  on  western 
waters  in  1822.  The  new  power  made  possible  readier 
and  more  rapid  use  of  the  Mississippi,  and  other  navi- 
gable waters.  This  development  of  production  machin- 
ery made  possible  the  addition  of  vast  territories,  and 
rendered  the  rest  of  the  world  more  accessible  to  our 
production,  and  our  markets  to  their  manufactures. 
Steam  as  a  motive  power  in  industry  and  transportation 
was  the  means  upon  which  capitalist  domination  de- 
pended. 

62.  What  effect  did  the  revival  of  trade  have  upon  the 
workers  ? 

We  find  many  unions  springing  up  in  trades  where 
previously  there  had  been  no  organization.  In  New 
York  (1825)  *The  Nailers  Union  (and)  the  Weavers 
Union  joined  with  a  number  of  journeymen  societies  in 


18 


celebration  of  the  opening  of  the  Erie  Canal".  The 
"female  weavers"  struck  with  the  men  in  Pawtucket, 
R.  1.  in  1824.  In  1823  the  New  York  City  stone-cutters 
struck  for  $1,621/2  a  day.  This  union  also  struck  for 
higher  wages  in  1825.  Journeymen  Hatters  in  Phila- 
delphia struck  in  1825,  "to  establish  a  regular  system  of 
wages,  to  prevent  one  employer  from  underselling  an- 
other."   New  York  hatters  organized  in  1823. 

Other  strikes  were  called  to  resist  wage  cuts.  In 
1824,  Buffalo  Tailors,  Philadelphia  Ship  Carpenters, 
the  New  York  Journeymen  House  Painters  struck  for  in- 
creased wages.  In  1825  there  were  strikes  of  tailors, 
stone-cutters,  stevedores  and  common  laborers  i'n  New 
York;  hand-loom  weavers  in  Philadelphia,  and  cabinet 
makers  in  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia.  In  1825  the  bak- 
ers sought  the  abolition  of  Sunday  work — a  shortenitig 
of  the  weekly  working  time.  New  York  City  bakers  led 
this  fight. 

63.  Was  there  any  new  factor  in  those  times? 

Yes.  Prison  labor  for  the  first  time  came  into  con- 
flict with  "free  labor".  In  their  effort  to  minimize  the 
labor  cost  of  production,  the  rising  capitalist  class 
sought  to  employ  convict  labor.  This  had  an  injurious 
effect  upon  a  labor  market  which  was  just  recovering 
from  the  effects  of  the  panic.  In  1823,  the  journeymen 
cabinet  makers  of  New  York  held  a  mass  meeting  and 
petitioned  the  state  legislature  for  redress  from  a  prac- 
tice which  threatened  "the  ruin  of  .  .  .  free  mechanics.'' 
Adding,  as  a  recommendation,  that  "convicts^ be  em- 
ployed in  a  state  marble  quarry.'' 

64.  Then  it  was  not  the  principle  of  the  employment  of  con- 
vict labor  they  objected  to,  but  its  effect  upon  their 
own  trade? 

Evidently.  That  employment  in  a  marble  quarry 
might  have  a  bad  effect  upon  the  quarrymen  did  not 
concern  them,  as  long  as  the  cabinet  making  trade  was 
given  relief.  The  unskilled  working  strata  have  always 
furnished  the  dumping  ground  for  all  the  gievances  of 
the  skilled  workers.    That  is  true  even  today. 

65.  What  effect  did  these  union  activities  have  on  the 
employers  ? 

They   became   alarmed,    and   several  prosecutions 

19 


upon  charges  of  conspiracy  resulted.  While  the  right 
to  organize  was  no  longer  denied,  the  means  adopted 
to  build  up,  and  the  methods  employed  by  the  organi- 
zations were  questioned.  Tactics,  like  picketing,  sup- 
ported strikes,  closed  shops,  distribution  of  scab  lists 
were  declared  illegal  by  the  courts.  These  were  re- 
garded as  being  coercive,  and  forms  of  intimidation. 
The  unionists  were  found  guilty.  The  position  of  the 
courts  in  these  cases  is  almost  identical  with  the  po- 
sition of  the  courts  in  labor  cases  today. 

66.  When  do  we  first  find  anything  like  a  co-oirdinated 
movement  of  wage  workers? 

Following  a  strike  of  building  trades  workmen  in 
Philadelphia  in  1827  there  was  organized  in  that  city 
the  first  central  labor  union  of  which  there  is  record — 
The  Mechanics'  Union  of  Trade  Associations. 

67.  Of  what  did  the  mechanics'  union  of  trade  associations 
consist  ? 

It  was  a  body  consisting  of  delegates  from  existing 
trade  associations  affiliated  with  it.  The  carpenters, 
painters,  and  bricklayers  were  affiliated.  Many  other 
trades  were  also  connected  with  this  moverent;  for  at 
one  time  it  embraced  fifteen  associations.  It  undertook 
the  work  of  organizing  unorganized  trades  "who  are 
yet  destitute  of  trade  societies." 

It  adopted  a  constitution  and  by-laws.  It  is  alleged 
that  this  contained  a  clause  prohibiting  political  ac- 
tion by  the  organization.  Nothwithstanding  this  pro- 
vfsion,  after  a  year  of  existence,  in  May,  1828,  it  resolved 
itself  into  the  first  labor  political  party  in  this  country. 
The  decision  to  function  as  a  political  organization  was 
approved  by  vote  of  the  constituent  unions  and  other 
trade  societies. 

Thus,  the  very  first  promising  effort  of  American  work- 
men was  diverted  from  its  proper  economic  sphere  into 
the  by-path  of  politics.  As  the  political  movement 
made  headway,  the  Mechanics'  Union  lost  ground  as  an 
economic  factor,  and  at  its  last  meeting  in  November, 
1829,  only  four  unions  were  represented.  It  was  killed 
by  politics.  Two  years  later,  in  May  1831  a  mass 
meeting  was  called  ''to  consider  the  establishment  of  a 
ten-hour  day";  so  that  it  would  appear  that  there  ex- 

20 


isted  two  schools  even  in  that  day — ^the  labor  politician 
and  those  who  believed  in  direct  economic  action. 

68.  What  particular  results  followed  from  the  movement? 

A  labor  press  was  one  result  of  this  movement.  A 
recognition  of  class  divisions  in  society,  though  not  at  all 
clear  ,is  noticeable.  It  implied  the  division  of  the  pop- 
ulation into  "the  rich"  and  "the  poor''  rather  than  into 
the  employing  and  the  employed  classes.  There  was  a 
widespread  belief  that  the  control  of  the  state  by  "the 
rich"  was  responsible  for  the  evils  under  which  the 
wage  working  population  suffered.  From  this  there 
followed  a  conviction  that  the  wage  earners  and  "com- 
mon people",  who  were  numerically  in  the  great  ma- 
jority, could  remedy  their  grievances  through  political 
action.  There  was  complete  failure  to  recognize  the 
true  character  of  the  state — a  failure  that  persists 
up  to  this  date — and,  with  the  mistaken  idea  that  their 
ballots  would  affect  their  deliverance,  the  workers  were 
inveigled  by  their  leaders  to  essay  the  political  role 
which  seemed  to  have  the  virtues  of  being  easy  and 
sure. 

69.  Could  not  the  workers  see  that  their  greatest  reliance 
was  in  their  economic  organizations? 

Why,  they  do  not  see  that  yet.  The  arguments  that 
won  the  workers  of  1828,  and  the  following  years,  are 
as  potent  to  win  them  today  as  they  were  then. 

There  were  many  things  in  the  infancy  of  the  labor 
movement  that  appeared  to  be  essentially  political  in 
their  origin,  and  it  was  deemed  that  these  would  res- 
pond to  political  treatment.  That  these  were  basically 
economic  did  not  occur  to  the  early  unionist.  Such 
were  (1)  the  obligatory  militia  service,  (2)  imprison- 
ment for  debt,  (3)  denial  of  educational  facilities.  The 
workers  of  those  days  sought  relief  from  these  very 
grave  matters  in  the  way  that  appeared  easiest  and 
best  to  them — politically. 

70.  Well,  why  did  they  go  to  the  trouble  of  organizing 
unions? 

The  instinctive  promptings  that  their  power  lay  in 
the  control  over  their  labor  power,  urged  the  economic 
organization.  We  must  remember  that  the  bulk  of 
these  workers  did  not  understand  the  social  relationship 

21 


which  victimized  them,  and  were  easily  persuaded  that 
"injudicious  and  partial  legislation,  and  the  indifference 
of  our  rulers  to  the  general  welfare" ;  that  "laws  were 
made  for  the  benefit  of  the  rich  and  the  oppression  of 
the  poor"  was  the  cause  of  their  disadvantage.  They 
were  thus  induced  to  seek  redress  in  politics.  So  far 
was  this  carried  that  even  the  ten-hour  day  took  the 
form  of  a  political  demand. 

71.  Was  this  movement  confined  to  Philadelphia  only? 

No.  In  New  York,  as  in  Philadelphia,  it  was  original- 
ly a  ten-hour  day  movement.  With  the  nucleus  of 
these  two  organizations,  the  movement  spread  out  over 
the  New  England  states  and  through  the  southern  sea- 
'  board  states,  until  it  is  said  to  have  been  active  from 
Maine  to  Georgia. 

72.  How  long  was  it  maintained? 

It  disintegrated  about  1831-1832,  because  of  "the 
workers  inability  to  play  the  game  of  politics",  and  the 
all-too  excellent  acquaintance  of  the  old  party  poli- 
ticians with  the  "tricks  of  the  game." 

73.  What  purpose  did  it  serve? 

It  served  the  purpose  of  directing  the  attention  and 
energies  of  the  workers  from  the  industrial  field,  where 
they  might  have  made  themselves  formidable,  to  the 
political  arena,  where  they  became  the  playthings  of 
capitalist  intrigue — a  decidedly  capitalist  purpose,  which 
politics  served  well. 

74.  What  succeeded  the  workingmen's  political  party? 

The  New  England  Association  of  Farmers,  Mechanics, 
and  Other  Working  Men. 

75.  What  was  this  organization? 

It  aimed  to  be  a  union  of  all  producers.  Its  program 
was  both  economic  and  political. 

76.  What  was  its  origin? 

It  grew  out  of  a  ten-hour  movement.  The  ten-hour 
day  had  been  established  in  New  York  City,  and  par- 
tially established  in  Philadelphia.  But  the  building 
trades  in  Bosto'n  had  been  defeated  in  an  attempt 
to  establish  it,  by  a  strike  in  1830.  A  movement  to 
force  a  ten-hour  working  day  grew  in  volume  in  New 
England.  The  mechanics  and  machinists  of  Providence, 
R.  I.  met  in  November  1831  and  declared  that  "after 


22 


March  20,  1832  they  would  only  work  ten  hours."  In 
December  of  that  year  (1831)  delegates  from  several 
parts  of  New  England  held  a  meeting  in  Providence  and 
issued  a  call  for  a  convention  to  be  held  in  Boston  in 
February  1832.  This  convention  gave  birth  to  the 
New  England  Association,  and  voted  to  establish  the 
ten-hour  day. 

77.  Did  it  take  in  others  than  wage  workers? 

Yes,  and  this  was  a  fundamental  weakness.  It  showed 
its  concern  and  solicitude  for  the  small  employer  "who 
is  exposed  to  a  competition  that  is  frequently  ruinous 
from  the  disproportionate  means  of  those  who  contend." 

78.  How  did  the  working  people  respond  to  this  organi- 
zation? 

It  is  recorded  that  the  factory  operatives  proved  a 
disappointment.  The  New  Haven  delegates  to  the  con- 
vention of  1833  complained  that  "the  absence  of  dele- 
gates from  the  factory  villages  gives  reason  to  fear  that 
the  operatives  in  the  factories  are  already  subdued  to 
the  bidding  of  the  employers — that  they  are  already 
sold  to  the  oppressor,  that  they  have  felt  the  chains 
riveted  upon  themselves  and  their  children,  and  despair 
of  redemption.  The  Farmers  and  Mechanics,  then,  are 
the  last  hope  of  the  American  people.  If  they  falter, 
from  ignorance  or  from  fear,  if  they  are  diverted  from 
their  object  by  deception  or  by  reproaches,  the  next  gen- 
eration will  find  its  workingmen  pusillanimous  subjects  of 
an  aristicratic  government,  naked,  famished  and  i'n  hov- 
els, sowing  that  others  may  reap,  and  building  palaces 
for  others  to  inhabit." 

79.  What  was  the  general  program  of  this  movement? 

"To  mature  measures  to  concentrate  the  efforts  of 
the  labouring  classes,  to  regulate  the  hours  of  labor,  by 
one  uniform  standard,  to  promote  the  cause  of  edu- 
cation and  general  information,  to  reform  abuses  prac- 
ticed upon  them,  and  to  maintain  their  rights  as  Amer- 
ican Freemen."  It  proposed  to  establish  "committees 
in  each  state,  to  collect  and  publish  facts  respecting 
the  condition  of  labouring  men,  women,  and  children, 
and  abuses  practiced  upon  them  by  their  employers." 
They  also  proposed  to  petition  legislatures  on  the  sub- 

23 


jects  of  hours  of  labor  and  the  education  of  child  opera- 
tives in  the  factories. 

80.  Was  this  movement  local? 

It  was  not  intended  to  be.  In  its  structure  and  pro- 
posals, it  was  a  mass  organization  of  producers  corres- 
ponding to  the  Knights  of  Labor  of  later  years.  At  its 
second  convention,  held  in  the  State  House  in  Boston 
(September  1832),  delegates  were  present  from  Con- 
necticut, Rhode  Island,  New  Hampshire,  Maine,  and 
Massachusetts.  The  third  convention  had  a  representa- 
tive from  Pennsylvania  in  addition  to  the  states  repre- 
sented in  the  second  convention.  At  this  (3rd)  con- 
vention the  case  of  the  imprisonment  of  operatives  of 
the  Thompsonville  Carpet  Manufacturing  Company  of 
Thompsonville,  Conn,  was  taken  up.  A  strike  had 
occurred  in  the  plant  of  this  company.  Suit  for  damages 
was  brought  against  the  strike  leaders.  They  were  im- 
prisoned upon  a  charge  of  conspiracy  to  ruin  the  busi- 
ness of  the  company  because  the  demand  for  an  in- 
crease of  wages  was  refused.  A  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  propose  a  statement  of  facts  for  publication 
in  "The  New  England  Artisan".  The  convention  de- 
nounced the  conduct  in  connection  with  thu  strikers  in 
,  this  case  as  "an  alarming  abuse  of  power  which  ought 
to  be  resisted."  Arrangements  were  made  by  this  con- 
vention "to  call  a  national  convention  at  some  central 
point." 

The  next  and  last  convention  of  the  New  England 
Association  of  Farmers,  Mechanics  and  Other  Working 
Men  met  at  Northampto'n,  Mass.,  in  Sept.,  1834.  It  was 
only  a  prelude  to  the  state  political  convention,  which 
met  in  the  same  place  immediately  afterwards.  Pol- 
iticals had  slain  another  economic  movement  of  the 
workers. 

81.  Was  the  New  England  Association  of  Farmers,  Mech- 
anics and  Other  Working  Men  responsible  for  any  eco- 
nomic attempt  by  workers? 

Yes.  Ship  carpenters  and  caulkers  of  Boston,  and 
house  carpenters,  masons,  painters,  slaters,  and  sail- 
makers,  jointly  strove  for  a  ten-hour  day  though,  ap- 
parently, without  success.  There  was  later  a  lockout 
of  the  ship  carpenters  and  caulkers  belonging  to  the 


24 


Association,  and  a  boycott  of  those  master  mechanics 
who  were  suspected  of  being  friendly  to  the  union  men. 

82.  Did  the  political  effort  succeed  ? 

It  accomplished  none  of  the  things  to  which  it  ap- 
plied itself.  The  reforms  it  sought  were  later  taken 
up  as  vote-getting  expedients  by  the  dominant  political 
parties,  and  were  thus  legally  established.  As  a  pre- 
ventative of  industrial  unity,  from  the  capitalist  point 
of  view,  these  political  parties  were  very  successful; 
from  the  working  class  point  of  view,  they  were  dis- 
astrous. 

83.  Did  any  unions  continue  during  this  period  of  political 
activity  ? 

The  typographical  societies  of  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia, which,  however,  were  of  a  purely  benevolent 
character  since  their  incorporation,  maintained  a  con- 
tinuous existence.  In  1833  the  Philadelphia  Typograph- 
ical Association  was  formed  whose  "primary  intention'' 
was  "the  determination  and  support  of  adequate  wages 
for  journeymen  printers''. 

In  1833  also,  the  Benevolent  Society  of  Journeymen 
Tailors  of  New  York  divided.  The  militant  members 
formed  the  United  Society  of  Journeymen  Tailors  di- 
rected to  industrial  purposes  whereupon  the  old  society 
devoted  itself,  in  part,  to  trade  affairs  and  affiliated 
with  the  city  central  union. 

The  Pennsylvania  Society  of  Journeymen  Cabinet 
Makers,  organized  in  1806  and  incorporated  in  1825, 
revised  its  constitution  in  1829  in  order  to  apply  itself 
industrially,  by  making  it  an  objective  "to  establish  a 
stated  price,  as  a  criterion  for  workmen  to  settle  all  dis- 
putes which  may  arise  between  them  and  their  em- 
ployers, in  an  amicable  and  satisfactory  manner." 

The  United  Beneficial  Society  of  Cordwainers  of  Phila- 
delphia during  March  1835,  held  a  meeting  to  organize 
all  non-union  shoemakers,  an|i  two  months  later  voted 
to  strike  for  higher  wages. 

84.  What  is  worth  noting  about  this  period? 

That  division  of  labor  was  threatening  the  hand- 
craftsmen.  The  period  of  apprenticeship  covered  from 
5  to  7  years,  when  the  full  trade  was  learned.  But  now, 
only  certain  processes  were  necessary,  and  when  an 

,  25 


apprentice  became  an  adept  in  one  or  more  of  these, 
the  employer  had  every  interest  in  refraining  from 
completing  his  knowledge  of  the  trade.  The  employer 
thus  got  an  expert's  work  in  a  process  for  an  appren- 
tice's allowance.  As  a  consequence,  the  apprentice 
system  was  a  live  question  with  the  journeymen,  and 
every  effort  was  made  to  regulate  it.  It  threw  many 
journeymen  out  of  work  as  boys  were  substituted, 
because  their  wages  were  lower.  The  printers,  tailors, 
ropemakers,  bakers,  and  many  trades  in  other  branches 
of  manufacturing  were  affected.  There  was  great 
complaint  that  there  was  much  hardship  endured  by 
workers  in  the  various  trades  because  *'labor  is  so  divided 
that  what  made  one  trade  formerly,  now  makes  half  a 
dozen,  and  every  working  tool  is  simplified  or  improved 
— to  say  nothing  of  machinery.'* 

Besides  the  cheap  labor  of  the  apprentices,  women 
provided  another  source  of  cheap  labor.  In  1837  wo- 
men were  employed  in  more  than  one  hundred  different 
trades.  Women  were  used  as  compositors  to  break  a 
printers'  strike  in  the  Philadelphia  newspaper  offices  in 
the  early  30's,  and  women  seamstresses  to  break  a 
strike  of  tailors  in  1833  in  New  York.  Cheap  convict 
labor  was  employed  in  competition  with  free  labor 
earlier  in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  than  in  other 
states. — It  was  systematically  used  in  Massachusetts  in 
1805,  Vermont,  in  1808,  Maryland  in  1811,  and  New 
Hampshire  in  1812.  As  early  as  1828  the  New  York 
and  Auburn  prisons  became  profitable  undertakings  to 
the  state.  In  Connecticut  (1828)  the  prisons  also  be- 
came profitable,  as  did  those  of  Massachusetts  (1832). 
The  Sing  Sing  prison  in  1835  made  a  profit  of  nearly 
$29,000.  What,  -do  you  think,  did  the  manufacturers 
who  contracted  for  this  prison  labor  make! 

85.  What  organization  form  succeeded  the  New  England 
Association  of  Farmers,  Mechanics  and  Other  Working- 
men  ? 

Organizations  of  central  labor  unions  of  the  type  of 
the  Mechanic's  Union  of  Trade  Associations,  which 
originated  in  Philadelphia  in  1827. 

These  unions  cannot  strictly  be  said  to  have  followed 
the  N.  E.  A.  of  F.  M.  and  O.  W.,  as  the  first  one  was 

26  . 


established  in  New  York  City  in  1833,  while  the  New 
England  Association  was  still  in  existence. 

This  form  of  unionism  gave  impetus  to  organization 
work  among  the  several  trades,  for  we  find  unions  of 
Hand  Loom  weavers,  plasterers,  bricklayers,  smiths, 
cigar  makers,  plumbers  as  well  as  the  pioneer  trades 
which  were  foremost  in  advancing  the  cause  of  union- 
ism, like  the  printers,  carpenters,  shoemakers,  tailors, 
etc. 

The  women  workers,  also,  show  signs  of  awakening, 
and  they  formed  a  mass  organization,  covering  Phila- 
delphia and  vicinity,  which  was  known  as  the  Female 
Improvement  Society.  This  organization  included  in  its 
membership  tailoresses,  seamstresses,  binders,  folders, 
milliners,  stock-makers,  corset  makers,  and  mantua- 
makers. 

In  Philadelphia  trade  societies  increased  from  21  in 
1833  to  53  in  1836.  During  the  same  period  in  New 
York,  such  societies  increased  from  29  to  52. 

Baltimore  had  23  trade  societies  in  1836.  Newark 
(N.  J.)  16,  Boston,  16.  Local  unions  were  established 
as  far  west  as  Louisville,  Ky.,  and  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  and 
included  Buffalo,  Pittsburgh,  and  Cincinatti. 

86.  Were  there  any  important  local  developments? 

It  is  very  significant  that  all  the  building  trades  of 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.  were  included  in  an  association  of  Jour- 
neymen builders.  This  would  appear  to  be  the  start- 
ing point  of  the  modern  Building  Trades  Council. 

The  Female  Improvement  Society  of  Philadelphia 
was  an  inclusive  union  which  did  not  apply  itself  to 
remedying  ills  in  one  calling  but  in  all  callings  where 
women  were  employed.  It  won  an  important  de- 
mand in  Philadelphia  by  which  an  increase  of  wages 
for  all  women  was  secured.  We  are  informed  that 
"the  employers  appear  to  have  granted  the  increase 
without  a  strike,  and  the  association  soon  after  went 
to  pieces." 

Women  in  many  trades  had  recourse  to  organization 
as  a  means  of  improving  their  conditions.  We  find 
women's  unions  in  New  York,  Baltimore,  Lynn  (Mass.) 

87.  What  prompted  the  formation  of  central  unions? 

It  was  argued  that  the  trade  societies  (craft  unions) 

27 


"having  discovered  that  they  were  unable  singly  to 
combat  the  numerous  powers  arrayed  against  them, 
united  together  for  mutual  protection".  It  was  believed 
that  "trade  societies  are  the  best  means"  for  workers  in 
the  individual  trades,  and  Trades  Unions  (central  labor 
bodies)  the  best  means  for  all  the  trades. 

This  idea  gained  such  headway  that  the  cotton  opera- 
tives in  several  Pennsylvania  towns  formed  the  Trades 
Union  of  Pennsylvania.  The  tailors  of  Louisville, 
Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  acted  concertedly  against  the 
master  tailors  of  those  three  towns  in  December,  1835. 

88.  What  was  gained  through  these  central  unions? 

Carpenters  won  the  10-hour  day  in  Philadelphia  and 
an  increase  in  wages  in  1833.  Several  attempts  to  cut 
wages  were  successfully  resisted.  Many  strikes  for 
benefits  were  successful.  A  labor  press  was  one  im- 
portant outcome  of  these  bodies,  and  a  more  general 
knowledge  of  labor  problems  was  diffused. 

89.  What  appears  to  have  been  their  general  economic 
policy? 

Unions  with  grievances  would  strike  in  the  absence 
of  remedial  treatment.  The  affiliated  unions  would  lend 
financial  assistance  ana  sucn  industrial  support  as  re- 
fusing to  supply  raw  material,  or  to  handle  the  products 
of  scab  workmen.  At  that  stage  of  industrial  develop- 
ment this  meant  the  exercise  of  great  power,  and  with 
the  '  conscientiously  strenuous  use  of  the  boycof  was 
designed  to  win  a  greater  measure  of  success  than  was 
possible  to  a  single  trade  society. 

90.  What  of  union  political  action? 

Apparently  the  unions  had  learned  the  lesson  of 
politics,  and  their  experiences  were  recent  enough  to 
suggest  to  them  the  taking  of  a  definite  stand.  So, 
we  find  the  unionists  dead  set  against  participation  in 
politics  by  the  organizations.  In  New  York  they  coun- 
selled the  unionized  workers  "not  to  lend  their  stan- 
dard to  decorate  the  pageant  of  any  political  proces- 
sion". In  Baltimore  politics  were  disavowed.  In  Phila- 
delphia, the  home  of  labor  politics,  it  was  decided  that 
*'no  Party,  political  or  religious  questions  shall  at  any 
time  be  agitated  in,  or  acted  upon  by  this  Union.'' 

In  1836  the  Philadelphia  union  gave  three  reasons 

28 


for  their  position  in  regard  to  politics:  The  third  one, 
after  referring  to  the  experience  of  the  Mechanic's 
Union,  declared  that  "the  Trades'  Union  never  will  be 
political,  because  its  members  have  learned  from  ex- 
perience that  the  introduction  of  politics  into  their 
societies  has  thwarted  every  effort  to  ameliorate  their 
conditions";  This  says,  in  effect,  that  they  believed  pol- 
itics to  be  an  instrument  of  the  employers. 

91.  How  did  the  politicians  regard  this  stand? 

They  did  not  welcome  it.  That  this  policy  on  the 
part  of  the  union  militants  was  not  a  mere  gesture  is 
shown  by  the  demand  for  the  resignation  of  the  first 
president  of  the  New  York  General  Trades'  Union. 
This  individual  accepted  an  appointment  by  the  Gov- 
ernor of  New  York  to  serve  on  a  commission  to  investigate 
prison  labor  in  the  state.  The  report  of  this  commission 
was  a  great  disappointment  to  the  organized  workmen. 
The  labor  president  subscribed  to  it.  He  was  accused 
of  having  "deserted  the  cause  of  the  Mechanics  and 
Workingmen".  However,  there  was  enough  politics 
in  the  union  to  prevent  any  investigation  of  his  conduct. 
The  politicians  were  inside,  and  laying  low  while  await- 
ing their  opportunity. 

92.  Was  the  opportunity  provided? 

Indeed  it  was.  In  1835  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
State  of  New  York  handed  down  a  decision  in  which 
a  shoemaker's  society  was  held  to  be  "a  combination 
to  injure  trade  and  commerce".  The  employers  took 
this  decision  as  a  basis  upon  which  to  institute  an  action 
against  the  journeymen  tailors  who  were  then  on  strike. 
Twenty  tailors  were  arrested  and  charged  with  "con- 
spiracy to  injure  trade  and  commerce,  and  for  riot  and 
assault  and  battery".    The  tailors  were  found  guilty. 

The  decision  of  the  court  aroused  intense  indignation. 
A  mass  meeting  was  held  at  which  the  judge  and  courts 
in  general  were  denounced.  This  meeting,  influenced 
by  the  outrageous  finding  of  the  court  in  this,  and  other 
cases,  upon  the  spur  of  the  moment  decided  u.pon  pol- 
itical action  instead  of  economic  action,  and  resolved  "to 
take  into  consideration  the  propriety  of  forming  a  sepa- 
rate and  distinct  party,  around  which  the  laboring  classes 
and  their  friends,  can  rally  with  confidence."  The  op- 

29 


portunity  was  provided,  and  the  politicians  were  ready. 

Similarly  in  Philadelphia  in  1836,  when  some  three 
hundred  coal  heavers  were  on  strike  for  a  '25  cent 
per  day  increase.  Several  of  them  were  arrested.  The 
bail  was  fixed  by  the  mayor  at  $2,500.  He  is  alleged 
to  have  declared  when  setting  the  bail  that  he  was  de- 
termined "to  lay  the  axe  at  the  root  of  the  Trades' 
Union".  The  threat,  and  the  excessive  bail  aroused  the 
central  labor  union,  which  took  up  the  fight  on  behalf 
of  the  coal  heavers.  The  court  dismissed  both  charges 
of  conspiracy  and  riot.  The  union  determined  to  strike 
at  the  mayor  politically;  the  politicians  were  on  hand, 
but  the  mayor  was  re-elected. 

93.  When  was  a  general  ten-hour  day  established  in  any 
section  of  the  United  States? 

In  Philadelphia,  in  June,  1835.  It  was  obtained  as 
the  result  of  a  general  strike  of  all  workers,  which, 
curiously  enough,  was  inaugurated  by  the  common  la- 
borers and  coal  heavers  of  the  city.  The  workers  in 
every  calling  struck,  and  the  employers  conceded  the  ten- 
hour  day.  Three  or  four  days  of  direct  action  accom- 
plished what  years  of  politics  could  not  make  a  start  on. 
The  New  York  Journal  of  Commerce,  which  was  very 
hostile  to  the  workers,  conceded  that  ten  hours  was  a 
long  enough  day,  when  the  workers  already  had  it. 
Previously,  that  employers'  sheet  could  not  reconcile  it- 
self to  the  demand.  But  it  stated  that  ''What  we  object 
to  is  not  the  thing  sought — but  the  means  of  attaining  it. 
For  the  precedent  is  full  of  mischief ;  if  such  is  to  be  the 
rewards  of  turn-outs  (strikes),  there  will  be  no  end  to 
them." 

That  these  strikers  were  predicated  upon  organiza- 
tion, and  that  organization  was  made  necessary  by  the 
refusal  of  the  interests  for  which  this  paper  spoke  is 
conveniently  overlooked. 

The  strike  brought  the  ten-hour  day,  and  the  lead  was 
taken  by  the  unskilled  workers.  This  is  worth  remem- 
bering. 

94.  Did  the  unions  rest  upon  the  ten-hour  day? 

No.  They  immediately  set  out  to  obtain  increased 
wages,  and  met  with  encouraging  success. 

30 


95.  What  effect  did  this  have? 

It  brought  about  the  organization  of  the  employers. 
Employers'  associations  are  found  in  all  the  industrial 
towns  from  1836  on.  The  blacklist  was  used  as  a  wea- 
pon against  union  workers.  The  blacklist  was  not  equal 
to  the  union  and  the  boycott,  so  the  employers  again 
turned  to  the  courts  for  aid  in  overcoming  the  advan- 
tages that  lay  with  organized  workers.  The  courts  did 
not  disappoint  them. 

96.  What  was  the  general  effect  of  unionism  during  this 
period  ? 

There  was  much  activity  in  organizing  work.  There 
were  many  demands  for  betterments,  and,  on  the  whole, 
there  was  a  wholesome  development  in  the  working 
class. 

97.  Was  no  attempt  made  for  more  extensive  organization 
Than  Central  Labor  Unions? 

Yes.  The  first  attempt  at  national  organization  was 
made  when  the  New  York  General  Trades'  Union  issued 
a  call  for  a  national  convention  in  March,  1834. 

98.  With  what  response  did  their  call  meet? 

A  convention  was  held  in  New  York  City  in  August, 
1834,  which  was  attended  by  delegates  from  Boston, 
New  York,  Brooklyn,  Poughkeepsie,  Newark,  and  Phila- 
delphia. The  unions  of  Washington,  and  Baltimore  were 
not  represented.  *This  convention  gave  birth  to  the 
National  Trades'  Union. 

99.  Was  it  a  harmonious  gathering? 

The  question  of  politics  came  very  near  disrupting  it. 
After  an  exhaustive  discussion,  it  was  decided  by  the 
convention  to  refrain  from  politics. 
100.  Did  the  convention  announce  any  policy? 

Yes.  It  decided  to  encourage  the  spreading  of  edu- 
cation among  the  workers,  for  it  was  impressed  "That 
the  primary  cause  of  all  the  evils  and  difficulties  with 
which  the  working  classes  are  environed  can  be  traced 
to  the  want  of  a  correct  knowledge."  Also,  it  recom- 
mended that  "such  of  the  working  classes  of  these 
United  States  as  have  not  already  formed  themselves 
into  societies  for  the  protection  of  their  industry,  do  so 
forthwith,  that  they  may  by  this  means  be  enabled  to 
make  common  cause  with  their  oppressed  brethren, 

31 


and  the  more  speedily  disseminate  such  knowledge  as 
may  be  most  conducive  to  their  interests  in  their  re- 
spective trades  and  arts,  as  well  as  their  general  in- 
terests as  productive  laborers".  It  referred  to  a  "line 
of  demarcation  between  the  producers  of  wealth  and 
the  portions  of  society  which  subsist  upon  the  fruits 
of  the  Working  Man's  industry". 

101.  How  long  did  the  National  Trades*  Union  last? 

From  1834  to  1837.  : 

102.  What  succeeded  it? 

Trade  societies  organized  upon  a  national  scale. 

103.  What  unions  were  so  organized? 

The  National  Co-operative  Association  of  Journeymen 
Cordwainers  (1836-1837)  ;  the  National  Typographical 
Society  (1836)  ;  (This  union  became  the  National  Typo- 
graphical Association  in  1837).  It  was  the  first  union 
to  inaugurate  the  system  of  issuing  union  membership 
cards.  These  cards  served  to  restrict  the  employment 
of  apprentices  as  journeymen.  A  union  card  secured 
for  the  bearer  courtesies  from  union  craftsmen  in  towns 
where  he  was  a  stranger,  where  the  society  was  in  exist- 
ence. The  Comb  Makers,  Carpenters,  and  Hand  Loom 
Weavers  all  started  national  unions  in  their  trades. 

104.  What  became  of  these  national  unions? 

Where  previously  the  unidn  movement  had  been 
killed  by  politics,  the  movement  rising  in  1836-37  com- 
mitted suicide  by  undertaking  co-operative  productive 
enterprises  through  which  the  panic,  beginning  in  1837, 
wiped  them  out. 

105.  What  was  the  attitude  of  the  working  class  after  the 
destruction  of  their  unions? 

The  idea  of  economic  combination  survived  the  pass- 
ing of  the  unions.  All  through  this  pa'nic,  which  lasted 
until  1849,  the  workers  were  involved  in  a  condition 
which  they  were  at  a  loss  to  understand;  and  conse- 
quently unable  to  deal  with.  Throughout  its  duration, 
and  following  its  passing,  the  wage  earners  instinctively 
felt  their  supreme  need  to  be  economic  organization. 
This  is  testified  by  their  refusal  to  adopt  the  suggestions 
of  the  humanitarian  philosophers  who  offered  many 
schemes  as  panaceas.  s. 

32 


106.  What  were  these  schemes? 

Owenism,  which  had  a  revival  follov^ing  1837.  It 
assumed  forms  differing  somewhat  from  Robert  Owens 
colony,  established  at  Harmony,  Ind.,  in  1826.  The 
most  prominent  of  its  intellectual  leaders  in  the  revival 
were :  Emerson,  Channing,  Brownson,  Brisbane,  Greeley, 
Weitling.  There  were  many  others,  but  to  these  belongs 
the  distinction  of  greatest  prominence. 

107.  What  was  the  nature  of  their  schemes? 

Principally  co-operative  undertakings,  but  they  were 
not  in  accord  with  one  another. 

108.  What  were  the  real  wage  workers  doing? 

In  1844  a  delegate  convention  attended  by  delega- 
tions from  several  states  inaugurated  the  New  England 
Working  Men's  Association.  At  its  second  convention 
the  co-operative  associationists  dominated.  Robert  Owen 
(England),  Wm.  H.  Channing,  and  Horace  Greeley 
were  among  the  speakers.  Another  convention  was 
held  in  the  fall  of  1845.  This  convention  endorsed  co- 
operative enterprises,  and  political  action.  The  1846 
convention  changed  the  name  to  the  Labor  Reform 
League  of  New  England.  After  the  1847  convention  this 
organization  disintegrated,  the  co-operators  'going  into 
the  New  England  Protective  Union,  and  the  others  tak- 
ing part  in  the  Industrial  Congresses. 

109.  Did  the  organization  eflFect  anything? 

As  an  evidence  of  the  working  class  ambition  to 
achieve  the  10  hour  day,  which  was  its  principal  feat- 
ure, it  undoubtedly  impressed  the  employers  and  the 
workers.  As  soon  as  one  ten-hour  organization  was 
disposed  of,  another  took  its  place.  We  find  New 
Hampshire  passing  the  first  ten-hour  law  in  1847,  with 
qualifications.  Pennsylvania  followed  with  a  restricted 
ten-hour  law  in  1848;  Maine  in  1848;  but  agriculture 
was  not  included;  Ohio  in  1852;  Rhode  Island  in  1851, 
a  qualified  ten-hour  law;  California  1851.  Georgia 
passed  a  law  in  1853  making  the  legal  day  ''from  sun- 
rise to  sunset  for  all  white  persons  under  the  age  of 
twenty-one  years''. 

110.  What  is  meant  by  "A  Qualified  Ten-Hour  Day  Law?" 

Longer  hours  were  permitted  where  contracts  were 
entered  into  for  more  than  ten  hours  per  day.  If  a 
worker  signed  a  contract  to  work  eleven,  twelve,  or 

33 


fourteen  hours,  the  law  was  not  contravened  thereby. 
Even  children  whose  parents  or  guardians  gave  written 
consent,  could  be  worked  longer  than  ten  hours.  As  a 
result,  employers  made  applicants  for  employment  sign 
papers,  and  the  law  was  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a 
dead  letter.  The  working  people  had  no  organization 
to  enforce  the  spirit  of  the  law,  and  its  letter  was 
against  them.  They  had  a  ten-hour  law,  and,  in  the 
absence  of  economic  organization,  they  had  a  twelve 
or  fourteen  hour  workday. 

111.  What  were  the  Industrial  Congresses? 

They  were  primarily  an  attempt  to  reconcile  the  dif- 
ferent schools  of  social  and  labor  opinion.  The  move- 
ment gradually  dwindled  down  to  a  land  reform  asso- 
ciation, having  dropped  abolition,  the  ten-hour  day,  and 
co-operation.    It  finally  died  out  in  1856. 

112.  Were  there  still  organizations  of  the  wage  earners? 

Apparently  there  were,  as  we  find  records  of  strikes 
by  various  working  groups.  From  1849  to  1852,  tailors, 
shoemakers,  printers,  bricklayers,  carpenters,  painters, 
common  laborers,  longshoremen,  and  others  are  rec- 
orded as  having  struck.  Some  of  the  building  trades 
struck  twice  in  a  year — in  the  spring  for  an  increase 
in  wages,  and  in  the  fall  to  prevent  reductions.  The 
printers,  shoemakers,  tailors,  and  the  building  trades 
appear  to  have  maintained  some  form  of  organization 
throughout. 

113.  What  do  we  find  in  particular  about  this  time? 

A  tendency  on  the  part  of  the  skilled  workmen  to 
disregard  the  unskilled  workers.  Some  labor  men  point- 
ed out  that  the  apprentice  regulations  sought  by  the 
craftsmen  worked  a  hardship  upon  the  unskilled  labor- 
ers, and  constituted  a  denial  to  the  youth  of  the  time. 
One  spokesman,  protesting  against  the  apprentice  sys- 
tem, claimed  that  the  youth  who  were  denied  oppor- 
tunity might  say  to  the  unions:  ''As  you  have  cast  us 
from  your  bosoms,  as  outcasts  we  will  fearfully  repay 
you." 

114.  Did  not  general  movement  of  labor  come  with  the  return 
of  industrial  activity? 

There  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any.  Attempts 
were  made  to  establish  central  labor  unions  in  New 
York  City,  but  seem  to  have  been  without  result.  On 

34 


one  of  these  occasions,  representatives  of  forty-nine 
societies  were  in  attendance.  The  employers  adopted 
a  conciliatory  attitude,  and  the  attempt  was  abandoned. 

115.  To  what  extent  did  craft  unions  obtain? 

It  is  difficult  to  say  exactly,  but  in  New  York,  1853 
and  1854,  there  were  strikes  by  seventy-four  different 
trades  and  callings.  At  this  time  there  is  said  to  have 
been  forty-four  unions  organized  in  Philadelphia,  thirty- 
eight  in  Baltimore,  twenty-six  in  Pittsburg.  There  were 
some  organizations  in  Albany,  Boston,  Brooklyn,  Buffalo, 
Chicago,  Cincinnati,  Cleveland,  Harrisburg,  Milwaukee, 
Newark,  New  Haven,  New  London,  New  Orleans,  St. 
Louis,  Washington,  D.  C,  and  Utica,  N.  Y. 

116.  With  such  a  degree  of  organization  why  could  no  gen- 
eral labor  movement  have  developed? 

The  industrial  depression  which  began  toward  the 
close  of  1854  destroyed  the  organizations.  A  few  of  the 
stronger  unions  survived — printers,  stove-moulders,  and 
some  others. 

117.  How  severe  was  this  depression? 

Very  severe.  It  not  only  crushed  the  unions,  but 
demoralized  the  working  class.  As  usual,  the  politicians 
were  on  hand  with  their  cure-alls.  Large  processions 
of  unemployed  marched  with  banners  demanding  or  re- 
questing consideration  of  their  plight.  Societies  to  aid 
the  unfortunate  were  formed  in  the  principal  cities. 
Labor  looked  outside  of  itself  for  relief. 

118.  What  is  marked  about  1853-'54? 

The  first  attempt  was  made,  in  New  York,  to  wed 
the  organized  labor  movement  to  political  Marxism. 

119.  How  was  this  attempt  received? 

Very  coldly. 

120.  What  national  organizations  were  there  in  the  fifties? 

The  Typographical  Union  (1850)  ;  Cigar  Makers' 
(1856 — out  of  business  in  1857)  ;  (R.  R.  Engineers) 
National  Protective  Union  (1856)  ;  Upholsterers'  Na- 
tional Union  (1853)  ;  Plumbers'  National  Union  (1854)  ; 
National  Union  of  Building  Trades  (1854 — this  union 
included  painters,  stone-cutters,  carpenters,  bricklayers, 
plumbers,  and  masons.  Other  trades  were  invited  to 
join)  ;  Mechanics'  Trades  Union  of  the  United  States 
(?);  Lithographers'  National  Union  (1853);  National 


35 


Silver  Platers  (1856)  ;  Painters^  National  Union  (1859)  ; 
Cordwainers'  National  Union  (1859)  ;  National  Cotton 
Mule  Spinners'  Ass'n.  of  N.  A.  (1858)  ;  National  Union 
of  Iron  Moulders  (1859)  ;  Journeymen  Stone  Cutters' 
Union  of  the  U.  S.  and  Canada  (1855). 

All  of  these  did  not  succeed  in  carrying  out  their 
intention.  The  coming  of  the  war  of  the  Rebellion 
interferred,  and  nationalization  of  unions  did  not  arrive 
until  after  its  close. 

121.  How  many  national  organizations  survived  the  industrial 
depression  and  the  war? 

About  five.  The  Typographical  Union,  Molders'  Inter- 
national Union,  National  Union  of  Machinists'  and  Black- 
smiths', Hat  Finishers'  National  Association,  and  the 
Stone  Cutters'  of  the  U.  S.  and  Canada. 

122.  What  was  the  attitude  of  the  workers  toward  the  civil 
war. 

They  did  not  desire  it.  They  favored  some  compro- 
mise, which  would  leave  the  question  of  slavery  optional 
with  the  several  states.  When  Lincoln  called  for  volun- 
teers, however,  the  workers  responded  generously; 
whole  local  unions  volu'nteering  in  a  body. 

123.  Was  there  any  attempt  at  organizing  the  workers  during 

the  war? 

Evidently  there  was.  In  1863  Fenchers'  Trades'  Re- 
view, a  labor  paper,  published  a  list  of  unions  in  sixty-one 
trades  scattered  over  a  wide  territory. 

The  following  list  showing  the  number  of  unions  in 
several  states  in  1863  and  1864  indicates  activity  in  or- 
ganization work. 


State  Dec.  1863    Dec.  1864. 

Connecticut    2  6 

Delaware   —  1 

Illinois    1  10 

Indiana    3  17 

Kentucky   2  8 

Maine   1  7 

Maryland   1 

Massachusetts    17  42 

Michigan    4  9 

Missouri   4  9 

New  Jersey   4  10 

36 


New  York  ... 

Ohio  

Pennsylvania 
Rhode  Island 
Tennessee  ... 

Virginia   

Wisconsin  ... 


16 
4 

15 
1 


1 


74 
16 
44 
7 
2 
1 
1 


Twenty-two  organized  trades  in  New  York  and  vicin- 
ity sought  wages  increase  in  1864.  The  establishment 
of  labor  papers  is  another  sign  of  active  interest  among 
the  workers. 

124.  Was  there  any  connection  between  the  local  unions  in 

the  war  period? 

There  were  local  connections.  These  were  "trades  as- 
semblies." The  first  of  these  "was  organized  in  Roches- 
ter, N.  Y.,  in  March  1863.  Boston  and  New  York  followed 
in  June  of  the  same  year.  Albany,  Buffalo,  Louisville, 
Philadelphia,  Pittsburg,  St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco  had 
trades'  assemblies  by  the  end  of  1863.  At  the  end  of  the 
war  trades*  assemblies  existed  in  every  important 
centre.'' 

125.  How  did  these  assemblies  function? 

They  endeavored  to  organize  the  unorganized  work- 
ers, by  employing  organizers,  calling  mass  meetings,  etc. 
They  also,  in  some  instances  formed  co-operatives.  The 
assemblies  of  Albany,  Boston,  Chicago,  and  Troy  helped 
establish  stores  that  dealt  in  groceries  alone.  The  nature 
of  this  form  of  co-operation  is  significant;  it  shows  that 
the  workers  believed  they  were  exploited  as  consumers. 

The  Chicago  German  Trades  Assembly,  the  Philadel- 
phia, and  Troy  assemblies  established  free  libraries  and 
reading  rooms. 

126.  V/ere  these  assemblies  of  advantage  to  the  workers? 

These  assemblies  were  instrumental  in  winning  many 
local  strikes.  The  employers  feared  them,  which  is  a 
good  sign  of  effectiveness.  The  bosses  organized  to  op- 
pose them  in  New  York  and  other  centers.  The  Employ- 
ers' Committee  sent  out  a  questionnaire  to  their  fellow 
employers  in  which  eleven  questions  were  asked,  of 
which  the  fifth  and  sixth  are  as  follows : 

"5.  Would  a  combination  of  employers  engaged  in  one 
business  be  able  to  successfully  overcome  a  strike  of  their 


37 


workmen  if  the  workers  were  supported  by  means  of  as- 
sessments levied  upon  workmen  in  other  trades,  then  in 
employment? 

"6.  Would  a  General  Combination  of  Employers,  rep- 
resenting diverse  business  interests,  be  successful  in  such 
a  case  as  is  supposed  in  the  last  question? 

Another  question  was  asked :  "Would  it  be  possible  to 
enact  and  enforce  laws,  without  encroaching  upon  the 
liberties  of  the  people,  that  would  wholly  or  at  a  con- 
siderable extent,  prevent  the  interruption  of  industry  and 
the  other  evil  consequences  of  strikes."  To  prevent 
strikes  by  making  strikes  illegal.  The  capitalists  sought 
that  end  then,  and  before;  they  are  still  seeking  it. 

127.  Were  any  steps  taken  to  form  a  general  organization  of 
labor  on  a  national  scale? 

Yes.  The  Machinists'  Union  at  its  1860  and  1861  con- 
ventions went  on  record  as  favoring  a  national  organi- 
zation by  the  national  unions  then  in  existence.  Nothing 
came  of  it. 

In  1864  the  Louisville  Trades'  Assembly  made  two  ap- 
peals for  a  national  convention;  the  first  in  April  and 
the  second  in  August.  Twelve  delegates  were  present. 
A  constitution  was  drafted.  The  next  convention  of  this 
International  Assembly  was  scheduled  for  Detroit  in  May 
1865,  but  it  never  took  place.  A  tendency  toward  polit- 
ical action  vv^recked  this  attempt;  besides  this,  the  Phila- 
delphia Industrial  Assembly,  the  strongest  in  the  coun- 
try, did  not  take  part.  This  is  accounted  for,  in  part  any- 
how, by  the  fact  that  the  national  officers  of  the  Molders 
and  Machinists  influenced  that  body.  While  they  de- 
sired a  general  national  organization,  they  desired  the 
national  union  rather  than  the  trades'  assembly  to  be 
the  unit.  Had  these  officers  not  been  able  to  influence 
Philadelphia,  the  story  of  American  labor  might  have 
been  written  in  different  terms. 

128.  What  national  unions  appeared  in  the  sixties? 

From  1863  to  1866  several  new  national  unions  were 
formed;  viz:  Plasterers'  National  Union,  National  Union 
of  Journeymen  Curriers',  Ship  Carpenters'  and  Caulkers' 
International  Union,  National  Union  of  Cigar  Makers, 
Journeymen  Painters'  National  Union,  National  Union  of 
Hatters,  Tailors'  National  Union,  Carpenters'  and  Join- 


38 


ers'  International  Union,  Bricklayers'  and  Masons'  In- 
ternational Union. 

The  spinners  were  the  only  ones  to  organize  nationally 
in  1867.  In  1868  the  Knights  of  St.  Crispin  and  the 
Grand  Order  of  Railway  Conductors  were  organized.  In 
1869  the  Wool  Hat  Finishers,  the  Daughters  of  St.  Cris- 
pin, and  the  Morocco  Dressers  were  organized. 

Between  1870  and  1873  there  were  brought  into  ex- 
istence :  International  Coopers'  Union  of  North  America 
(1870)  ;  the  Brotherhood  of  Iron  and  Steel  Heaters, 
Rollers  and  Roughers  of  the  United  States  (1872) ;  the 
National  Union  of  Iron  and  Steel  Roll  hands  of  the  United 
States;  the  Furniture  Workers;  the  Miners  National  As- 
sociation ;  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Firemen 
(1873)  ;  the  Machinists'  and  Blacksmiths'  Union  which 
had  1,500  members  in  1870  had  reached  18,000  in  1873. 
The  Sons  of  Vulcan  who  had  1,280  members  in  1870  had 
3,048  in  1873.  The  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engin- 
eers which  had  4,108  in  1869  had  9,000  members  in  '73. 
The  anthracite  miners  had  about  30,000  members,  and 
the  Knights  of  St.  Crispin  had  50,000.  It  is  conserva- 
tively estimated  that  about  this  time  there  were  in  the 
neighborhood  of  a  half  million  workers  organized. 

129.  Were  there  many  industrial  conflicts? 

The  Iron  Molders'  Union  bore  the  brunt  of  the  attacks 
upon  organized  labor.  The  iron  founders  organized  in 
opposition  to  this  union.  A  national  strike  broke  out. 
The  molders  assessed  themselves  generously,  but  event- 
ually the  assessment  feature  brought  disfavor;  so  the 
molders  established  co-operative  foundries  in  several 
towns.  The  result  was  an  evil  influence  on  the  union 
feature  of  this  splendid  organization.  It  was  not  until 
1879  that  the  unio'n,  cured  of  its  co-operative  idea,  again 
functioned  as  a  union. 

The  machinists,  printers,  and  other  organizations  had 
their  encounters  with  their  employers.  The  union  men 
made  steady  progress. 

130.  What  other  trades  were  involved  in  strikes? 

The  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers  struck 
against  the  Galina  and  Chicago  Union  R.  R.  Co.  It  de- 
veloped after  the  strike  that  this  road  had  been  assisted 
by  other  railroads.  There  was  strong  resentment.  The 
B.  of  L.  E.  was  a  fighting  organization  for  just  one  year 

39 


— from  August  17,  1863  to  August  17,  1864 — while  it 
was  headed  by  an  enthusiast,  named  W.  D.  Robinson, 
who  "placed  his  whole  soul  and  energy  at  the  service  of 
the  organization/'  He  was  "framed"  in  the  convention, 
and  charges  preferred  against  him.  A  handy  man  for 
the  New  York  and  Hudson  River  Railway,  named  Wilson, 
succeeded  him.  The  structure  and  policy  of  the  organ- 
ization was  changed  to  suit  the  railroad  interests.  Wilson 
used  the  B.  of  L.  E.  under  the  direction  of  the  American 
Railroad  Association.  He  held  office  until  1874,  when  a 
specially  called  convention  forced  him  to  resign.  The 
opposition  to  Wilson  was  led  by  P.  M.  Arthur.  By  special 
invitation  Robinson  was  present  at  this  convention,  and 
vindicated  so  that  he  was  cheered  to  the  echo.  Arthur 
followed  the  path  for  which  he  blamed  Wilson,  and  you 
can  judge  how  Warren  Stone  is  travelling  at  the  present 
time. 

131.  What  was  the  Knights  of  St.  Crispin? 

A  shoemakers'  organization.  It  was  started  in  Mil- 
waukee by  seven  men.  It  spread  rapidly  throughout  the 
shoe  trade,  having  a  phenomenal  growth.  It  was  pri- 
marily an  effort  to  preserve  his  skill  to  the  shoemaker, 
and  was  destined  to  play  a  losing  part.  It  directed  much 
of  its  energy  against  "green  hands."  It  produced  some 
fine  labor  men,  many  of  whom  were  later  leading  figures 
in  the  Knights  of  Labor. 

132  What  was  the  National  Labor  Union? 

It  was  a  general  organization  of  labor  upon  a  national 
scale.  Its  principal  object  was  to  have  been  the  estab- 
lishment of  an  eight-hour  day;  but  at  its  first  convention 
it  was  steered  into  politics.  Its  representation  was  drawn 
from  central  bodies  and  local  unions.  National  Trades' 
Union  officials  and  representatives  were  also  given  seats. 
This  was  the  first  union  to  establish  connection  abroad. 
It  had  an  agreement  with  the  International  Working- 
men's  Association. 

133.  What  became  of  the  National  Labor  Union? 

It  was  wrecked  by  politics.  It  lasted  from  1866  to 
1872. 

134.  What  succeeded  the  National  Labor  Union? 

The  Industrial  Congress  and  Universal  Brotherhood* 


40 


135.  What  was  the  Industrial  Congress  and  Universal  Brother- 
hood? 

It  was  a  national  organization  called  into  existence 
by  a  convention  arranged  by  officers  of  the  Iron  Holders* 
International  Union,  Machinists'  and  Blacksmiths'  Inter- 
national Union,  Coopers'  International  Union,  and  the 
International  Typographical  Union.  In  addition  to  re- 
presentatives from  these  unions,  the  miners,  tobacco 
workers,  cigarmakers  sent  delegates,  as  did  the  central 
bodies  from  Columbus,  Cleveland,  Indianapolis,  and  two 
other  cities.  The  convention  was  held  in  Cleveland  on 
July  15,  1873. 

136.  What  was  the  general  policy  of  this  Industrial  Congress? 

To  avoid  politics,  not  to  take  co-operation  too  seriously, 
and  to  devote  itself  to  economic  action.  The  political 
policy  of  "reward  your  friends"  originated  with  this 
union.  It  lasted  from  1873  to  1875.  Its  refusal  to  play 
politics  and  to  gain  membership  at  the  cost  of  principle, 
these,  together  with  the  industrial  depression  killed  it. 

137.  Upon  what  did  workers  then  depend? 

Enough  of  them  depended  upon  politics  to  be  the  back- 
bone of  the  Greenback  party. 

138.  What  was  the  Sovereigns  of  Industry? 

An  organization  devoted  to  co-operation.  The  Indus- 
trial Congress  refused  to  affiliate  with  the  Sovereigns  of 
Industry  and  won  its  hostility.  It  lasted  from  1874  to 
1878.  It  failed  to  survive  the  depression,  and  dishonest 
officials.    Co-operation  had  received  another  black  eye. 

139.  What  was  the  general  condition  of  unionism  in  this 

decade? 

The  National  unions  were  composed  of  autonomous 
locals.  The  centralization  of  power,  which  now  amounts 
to  dictatorship,  was  not  invested  in  the  national  and  in- 
ternational unions.  This,  it  was  argued,  was  a  weak- 
ness, though  that  is  doubtful.  Another  thing  that  was 
noticeable  and  which  had  a  bad  effect  upon  the  labor 
movement  was  that  its  most  capable  men  could  not  re- 
sist the  temptation  to  use  their  union  popularity  for  their 
own  political  advancement.  A  seat  in  Congress,  or  a 
good  position  under  the  government  turned  many  of 
them  from  labor  leaders  to  enemies  of  the  working  class. 
In  the  closing  years  of  the  '60  decade  many  organizations 


were  swept  away  and  all  of  them  lost  members.  Gom- 
pers  estimated  that  not  more  than  50,000  remained  in 
the  organizations  in  1878. 

140.  What  effect  did  this  have  on  the  workers? 

Much  that  had  been  gained  in  wage  increases  and 
shorter  hours  in  the  eight-hour  movement  was  lost.  Many 
bitter  strikes  were  fought  in  efforts  to  resist  wage  cuts 
and  increased  hours.  The  cigarmakers  fought  a  losing 
strike  which  lasted  107  days.  The  textile  workers  re- 
sisted wage  cuts,  which  amounted  to  about  45  per  cent, 
unavailingly.  The  miners  fought  hard  strikes  in  the  70's 
and  went  down  to  defeat.  Their  officers  did  not  "play 
the  game." 

141.  What  were  the  Molly  McGuires? 

The  history  of  the  Mollies  has  only  been  written  by 
their  enemies.  What  we  do  know  definitely  about  them 
from  their  enemies  is  that  they  were  ''framed"  and  be- 
trayed by  hirelings  of  the  Reading  Railroad  Company 
which  operated  large  coal  holdings  in  the  anthracite 
regions  of  Pennsylvania.  A  scoundrel  by  the  name  of 
McParland  was  sent  down  into  this  region  as  a  spy  and 
agent  provocateur.  He  incited  his  dupes  to  assist  him  in 
committing  murder,  or  to  accompany  him  in  murdering 
expeditions.  He  was  the  ring-leader  for  a  price.  This 
fellow's  word  hung  ten  men  and  sent  fourteen  to  prison. 
He  was  hailed  spotless  as  an  angel — he  had  victimized 
the  members  of  the  Mollies  and  enabled  the  P.  &  R. 
R.  R.  to  resume  operation  in  their  coal  properties. 

142.  When  did  the  policy  of  employing  lahor  spies  hegin? 

That  is  hard  to  answer.  Gowen,  president  of  the  Phila- 
delphia and  Reading  R.  R.,  hired  the  infamous  McPar- 
land, and  again,  we  find  him  using  Pi'nkerton  detectives 
in  the  B.  of  L.  E.  Gowen  had  notified  the  engineers 
on  his  road  to  withdraw  from  the  B.  of  L.  E.  They  did, 
but  they  intended  to  pull  a  surprise  strike.  The  Pinker- 
to'n  spies  informed  Gowan  who  had  new  men  to  take 
their  places. 

143.  Were  the  engineers  the  only  organization  of  railroad 
employes? 

No.  There  were  organizations  of  conductors  and  fire- 
men. In  1877  great  headway  was  made  in  organizing  a 
Trainmen's  Union.   This  was  to  include  "engineers,  fire- 


42 


men,  conductors  and  brakemen  on  the  three  grand  trunk 
lines,  into  one  solid  body,"  and  to  strike  simultaneously. 
The  strike  was  to  have  been  pulled  on  June  27,  at  noon. 
Forty  men  were  dispatched  from  Pittsburgh  to  notify  the 
various  divisions.  At  the  last  moment  division  developed, 
and  the  whole  plan  fell  through.  Was  this  ma'nipulated 
by  agents  of  the  railroads? 

There  were  some  desperate  strikers  in  the  railroad  in- 
dustry. All  the  strikes  were  lost.  Had  the  trainmen's 
union  been  in  existence,  there  would  have  been  a  differ- 
ent tale  to  tell,  i'n  all  likelihood. 

144.  What  is  the  next  important  labor  development? 

The  Noble  Order  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  a  secret 
organization  formed  in  Philadelphia  in  December,  1869. 
It  was  originally  a  secret  union  of  garment  cutters,  but 
admitted  workers  of  every  trade  as  **sojourners"  with- 
out payi'ng  dues.  These  could  not  participate  in  matters 
pertaining  to  the  trade. 

By  1874  six  assemblies  of  textile  workers  were  formed. 
All  of  these  were  in  Philadelphia.  A  District  Assembly 
(No.  1)  was  formed  in  Philadelphia  on  Christmas  Day, 
1873,  with  affiliation  of  thirty-one  local  assemblies.  From 
this  time  on  the  Order  maintained  a  steady  growth.  It 
was  fed  from  two  sources:  Locals  of  the  defunct  na- 
tional unio'ns  joined  it,  and  independent  organizations 
threw  their  lot  with  it;  miners'  locals,  machinists'  and 
blacksmiths'  locals,  locals  of  the  Knights  of  St.  Crispin, 
the  ship  carpenters'  and  caulkers'  locals  joined  it.  It 
spread  rapidly  over  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  India'na,  Illinois, 
Maryland,  New  York  and  New  Jersey.  The  opposition 
of  the  Catholic  church,  and  other  influences  forced  it  to 
come  out  into  the  open,  and  in  1878  it  aimed  at  beitig 
a  national  labor  body. 

The  Junior  Sons  of  '76,  another  secret  order  with  a 
political  bent,  which  barred  from  membership  a  **pro- 
fessional  person,  practical  politician,  speculator,  cor- 
porator or  monopolist"  u'nless  admitted  by  a  four-fifths 
vote,  invited  all  existing  labor  organizations  to  attend  a 
convention  at  Tyrone,  Pa.,  in  December,  1875.  The 
Knights  of  Labor  and  the  Social  Democratic  Party  of 
North  America  were  among  the  orga'nizations  accepting 
the  invitation. 


43 


145.  What  was  done  at  this  convention? 

It  became  the  battleground  in  a  contest  between  the 
greenbackers  and  the  Socialists.  Another  co'nvention 
was  held  in  Pittsburgh  in  1876. 

146.  What  did  the  Pittsburgh  convention  accomplish? 

Generally  speaking,  the  economic  idea  prevailed,  tho 
the  greenbackers  seemed  to  triumph  to  such  an  extent 
that  the  socialists  withdrew  from  the  sessions.  The  con- 
vention decided  that  it  was  unwise  to  launch  an  inde- 
pendent political  party,  but  advised  a  policy  of  bringing 
pressure  to  bear  upon  existing  political  parties. 

147.  Why  did  the  Knights  of  Labor  hold  to  secrecy? 

There  were  many  who  believed  that  ''the  veil  of  mys- 
tery was  more  pote'nt  for  good  than  the  education  of  the 
massea  in  an  open  organization."  However,  the  desire 
to  wield  national  influence  forced  the  abandonment  of 
absolute  secrecy,  and  we  find  a  convention  in  Phila- 
delphia, (July  3,  1876),  taking  the  name  of  The  National 
Labor  League  of  North  America.  The  opposition  of  the 
Catholic  church,  in  localities  where  it  controlled  large 
numbers  of  working  people,  was  a  force  to  be  reckoned 
with.  Besides,  the  secrecy  of  the  Molly  Maguires  and 
its  results  had  an  important  beari'ng  upon  the  decision 
of  the  K.  of  L.  to  come  into  the  open.  It  was  done 
haltingly,  but  it  was  eventually  accomplished. 

With  all  labor  organizations  that  had  adopted  the 
policy  of  secrecy,  the  intention  seems  to  have  been  that 
this  course  would  keep  the  employers  ignorant  of  what 
was  transpiring  in  the  meetings  and  of  the  programs 
which  the  unions  arranged.  Of  course,  this  did  not  prove 
correct.  Secret  deliberations  provided  a  fertile  field 
upon  which  the  profession  of  labor  spy  grew  like  a  weed. 
The  Knights  of  Labor  came  out  definitely  as  a  national 
labor  organization,  under  its  own  name,  in  1879. 

148.  What  was  the  structure  of  The  Knights  of  Labor? 

It  was  a  mass  organization.  It  admitted  to  member- 
ship all  persons  over  18  years  of  age  who  "are  working 
for  wages,  or  who  at  any  time  worked  for  wages"  but 
"no  person  who  either  sells,  or  makes  his  living  by  the 
sale  of  intoxicated  drink,  can  be  admitted,  and  no  law- 
yer, doctor  or  banker  can  be  admitted." 

Local  Assemblies  were  "composed  of  not  less  than  ten 


44 


members,  at  least  three  quarters  of  whom  must  be  wage 
workers;  and  this  proportion  shall  be  maintained  for  all 
time."  District  Assemblies  were  composed  of  the  Local 
Assemblies  in  a  locality  and  had  jurisdiction  over  them. 
The  General  Assembly  of  the  K.  of  L.  of  N.  A.  was  the 
highest  tribunal,  and  had  full  and  final  jurisdiction  in 
all  matters. 

149.  Did  the  K.  of  L.  strive  for  class  organization  along  class 
lines  ? 

Evidently  not.  If  it  had,  it  would  have  confined  mem- 
bership to  those  who  work  for  wages.  Under  the  pro- 
vision that  those  ''who  at  any  time  (had)  worked  for 
wages"  John  D.  Rockefeller,  Carnegie,  Schwab,  and 
other  capitalists  could  qualify  as  members.  Moreover, 
the  provision  that  local  assemblies  be  composed  of  three- 
fourths  wage  workers  implies  that  the  other  fourth  need 
not  be  wage  laborers.  The  K.  of  L.  in  its  beginnings, 
was  the  direct  opposite  of  the  separate  autonomous  trade 
union,  though  later  on  it  was  proven  not  to  be  averse 
to  such  modifications  as  would  permit  trade  unions  to 
form  out  of  the  "sojourners"  within  its  own  ranks.  The 
adoption  of  this  course  was  forced  upon  it  by  the  rivalry 
of  the  A.  F.  of  L.,  which  had  come  into  existence  in 
Pittsburgh,  in  1881,  as  the  Federated  Trades  Unions  of 
the  United  States  and  Canada,  afterward  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor. 

150.  When  did  the  K.  of  L.  take  national  shape? 

Following  the  Reading  (Pa.)  convention  in  1878, 
which  provided  for  a  national  central  body— The  Gen- 
eral Assembly- — to  which  all  parts  of  the  organization 
were  subordinate. 

151.  Along  what  lines  did  the  K.  of  L.  propose  to  advance  the 
interest  of  the  workers? 

By  the  use  of  economic  action,  education,  and  co- 
operation. As  it  grew,  it  found  itself  involved  in  many 
strikes.  The  Resistance  Fund,  raised  by  a  per  capita 
tax  of  5  cents  per  month,  which  it  had  originally  in- 
tended to  devote  to  co-operative  enterprises  and  educa- 
tional purposes,  was  used  to  finance  strikes.  Many  at- 
tempts were  made  to  commit  the  K.  of  L.  to  a  political 
program  in  the  years  of  its  earliest  importance,  but  it 
was  shy  of  politics  at  that  time. 

45 


152.  Was  the  K.  of  L.  involved  in  many  strikes? 

The  history  of  the  K,  of  L.  is  a  series  of  strikes.  Many 
of  its  local  assemblies  were  involved  in  the  great  rail- 
road strikes  of  1877.  There  v^ere  numerous  strikes  into 
which  the  order  was  precipitated  until  the  great  tele- 
graphers' strike  of  1883.  The  telegraphers  struck  against 
the  Western  Union  Company  for  a  six  day  week,  an  eight 
hour  day  shift,  seven-hour  night  shift,  and  15  per  cent 
increase  in  wages.  The  strike  was  lost  after  lasting  one 
month,  from  June  19  to  about  the  end  of  July.  In  1882 
the  New  York  Central  freight  handlers  struck  in  New 
York  city.  This  strike  was  broken  in  less  than  a  month. 
A  strike  of  Illinois  coal  mine  workers  (Dist.  Ass.  33) 
was  defeated,  and  the  mine  workers  quit  the  K.  of  L. 
New  York  street  car  men's  Knights  of  Labor  Assembly 
was  rooted  out  by  labor  spies. 

Some  of  the  strikes  were  won  by  the  K.  of  L. :  One 
was  the  general  strike  in  the  Saginaw  Valley,  Mich., 
(1885)  ;  (this  was  a  spontaneous  strike  by  the  workmen 
who  were  largely  Polish.  It  lasted  about  six  weeks). 
The  strike  of  the  Union  Pacific  shopmen,  also  a  sponta- 
neous strike  to  resist  a  wage  cut  of  10  per  cent,  was  won 
in  three  days.  A  strike  of  the  shopmen  on  the  Gould 
system  (Wabash  and  M.  K.  &  T.),  in  the  spring  of  1884 
which  was  supported  by  the  engineers,  firemen,  conduct- 
ors and  brakemen,  was  also  won.  The  Gould  strike  of 
1885  was  won,  although  the  train  crews  refused  to  give 
the  support  they  had  given  the  preceding  year.  The 
Great  8-hour  strike  of  May  1st,  1886,  succeeded  in 
winning  the  eight-hour  day  for  thousands  of  workers. 
There  were  other  strikes,  but  out  of  this  strike  grew  the 
infamous  Haymarket  incident  in  Chicago. 

153.  What  led  up  to,  and  what  happened  in  the  Haymarket? 

In  response  to  the  eight-hour  strike  call  for  May  1st, 
the  turnout  of  Chicago  workers  was  the  largest  of  any 
city  in  the  United  States.  Of  the  80,000  Chicago  workers 
who  struck,  10,000  were  lumber  shovers.  On  May  3rd 
a  contigent  of  these  lumber  shovers  were  holding  a 
meeting  force  the  McCormick  reaper  works,  when  a 
large  force  of  police  arrived  and  shot  into  the  meeting, 
killing  four  persons  and  wounding  many.  August  Spies 
who  had  addressed  this  meeting  issued  a  call  for  a  mass 
meeting  in  the  Haymarket  on  May  4th  to  protest  this 

46 


outrage.  He  urged  the  workers  to  come  prepared  to 
defend  themselves.  About  3,000  attended  the  meeting, 
which  was  addressed  by  August  Spies,  Albert  R.  Parson 
and  Samuel  Fielden,  in  the  order  named.  Carter  H.  Har- 
rison, Sr.,  Mayor  of  Chicago,  attended  the  meeting.  A 
heavy  rainstorm  thinned  the  crowd  to  a  few  hundred. 
When  the  crowd  was  thus  reduced  a  force  of  180  police- 
men marched  upon  it.  Fielden  cried  out  to  the  captain 
in  charge :  "This  is  a  peaceable  meeting.'*  A  bomb  was 
thrown,  by  whom  has  never  been  learned,  and  a  sergeant 
of  police  was  killed.  Eight  men  were  tried  for  murder, 
found  guilty  of  being  anarchists,  and  seven  were  sent- 
enced to  be  hanged.  Spies,  Fisher,  Engels  and  Parsons 
were  hanged;  Fielden  and  Schwab  had  their  sentences 
commuted  to  life  imprisonment.  Oscar  Neibe  got  15 
years  penal  servitude.  Ling  is  alleged  to  have  committed 
suicide. 

154.  Did  they  have  a  fair  trial? 

Of  course  not.  When  Governor  Altgeld  pardoned  Fiel- 
den, Niebe  and  Schwab  he  scored  the  unusual  and  pre- 
judiced manner  in  which  the  jury  had  been  drawn.  Here 
is  how  the  jury  was  selected.  Judge  Joseph  E.  Gary  ap- 
pointed a  special  constable,  who  selected  such  men  as  he, 
the  bailiff,  shose  instead  of  drawing  them  out  of  a  box 
that  contained  hundreds  of  names.  (It  is  said  that  every 
man  who  sat  on  the  jury  had  pledged  himself  to  find  the 
defendants  guilty.)  Altgeld  also  stated  that  the  judge 
by  his  ruling  had  made  it  extremely  difficult  for  the  de- 
fendants' lawyer  to  get  consideration  for  the  charge; 
that  the  jury  had  been  packed;  that  the  judge  connived 
at  getting  men  on  the  jury  who  admitted  prejudice 
against  the  defendants,  including  a  relative  of  one  of  the 
victims  of  the  bomb;  that  the  judge  admitted  he  ruled 
without  precedent  when  he  denied  a  motion  for  a  new 
trial;  and  that  the  personal  bearing  of  the  judge  had 
been  extremely  unfair  throughout  the  trial.  Fair  trial! 
their  execution  was  judicial  murder. 

155.  Was  there  no  protest  by  labor? 

Labor's  best  protests  are  not  verbal.  In  the  hearts  of 
the  workers  there  is  still  protest  for  what  was  done.  The 
American  Federation  of  Labor  convention  pleaded  for 
•     mercy  for  the  men,  but  Powderly  threw  his  influence 
against  any  sympathic  expression  by  the  General  As- 

47 


sembly  of  the  K.  of  L.,  and  the  highest  representative 
body  in  the  K.  of  L.  remained  voiceless  while  its  bravest 
v^ere  being  done  to  death. 

156.  Why  did  Powderly  act  so? 

Only  Powderly  and  his  connections  know.  When  the 
K.  of  L.  decided  upon  the  May  1st  eight-  hour  day  strike, 
Powderly  sent  a  secret  letter  to  his  lieutenant  throwing 
cold  water  upon  the  idea.  Later,  Powderly  got  a  Federal 
job.  There  may  be  some  connection  between  that  job 
and  his  acts  relating  to  the  eight-hour  strike  and  the 
Haymarket  K.  of  L.  men.  Quien  Sabe? 

157.  Did  the  K.  of  L.  decline  because  of  the  Haymarket  affair? 

On  the  contrary  it  grew  rapidly;  but  within  a  year 
it  begin  to  decline.  This  was  due  in  part  to  the  hostility 
of  the  A.  F.  of  L.,  but  principally  to  inherent  defects  in 
the  structure  of  the  organization  itself.  Each  district  was 
autonomous.  As  a  result  three  important  lockouts  in 
1886  proved  demoralizing.  The  K.  of  L.  Laundry  work- 
ers at  Troy,  N.  Y.,  numbering  about  3,000  were  locked 
out;  12,000  of  their  fellow  workers  joined  them  by  walk- 
ing out.  After  five  weeks  the  General  Secretary  of  the 
K.  of  L.,  Hayes,  accepted  the  manufacturers'  terms  and 
called  the  strike  off.  In  Amsterdam  and  Cohoes,  N.  Y., 
District  Assembly  104  pulled  20,000  knit  goods  workers 
out  on  strike.  On  October  16,  1886  the  manufacturers 
locked  out  the  K.  of  L.  This  dispute  is  said  to  have  arisen 
out  of  the  promotion  of  an  apprentice  to  operate  a  new 
machine.  After  five  months,  in  May  1887  the  strike  was 
called  off. 

In  the  Chicago  packing  houses  the  packers  decided 
to  restore  the  ten-hour  day  on  October  11.  They  refused 
to  negotiate  and  blacklisted  the  Knights.  On  November 
10th,  the  packing  bosses  had  decided  to  rescind  the 
blacklist,  when  a  telegram  was  received  from  Powderly 
declaring  the  strike  off.  This  gave  the  Knights  a  black 
eye.  Powderly's  secret  circular  in  the  eight-hour  strike ; 
his  refusal  to  allow  the  Order  to  plead  for  Parsons  and 
his  fellows ;  his  telegram  on  this  occasion,  at  the  time 
when  these  eight  men  were  awaiting  their  fate,  makes 
it  appear  that  Powderly  was  serving  some  interest  other 
than  the  workers. 

The  strike  of  the  Coal  Handlers  and  Longshoren^en 
in  New  York  on  Jan.  1,  1887,  which  spread  to  include 

48 


all  waterfro'nt  workers,  railroad  freight  handlers,  ship 
trimmers,  boatmen,  bag  sewers,  involved  approximately 
28,000  workers.  This  strike  collapsed. 

In  January,  1888,  members  of  the  B.  of  L.  E.  and 

B.  of  L.  F.  scabbed  on  a  K.  of  L.  strike  on  the  Phila- 
delphia and  Reading  R.  R.,  and  defeated  them.  Later, 
i'n  the  same  year,  when  the  brotherhood  men  on  the 

C.  B.  &  Q.  struck,  the  K.  of  h.  retaliated. 

The  unskilled  workers,  unable  to  secure  advantages 
through  the  K.  of  L.,  began  to  fall  away,  until  in  1891 
it  was  practically  liquidated  into  the  People's  Party. 
Another  labor  organization  was  laid  in  a  political  grave. 

158.  Was  the  K.  of  L.  a  real  labor  organization? 

Yes.  It  was  developing  into  a  class  organization,  and 
would  have  done  so  were  it  not  for  its  weak,  if  not 
treacherous,  leadership.  The  Knights  of  Labor  grew  to 
be  the  champion  of  the  unskilled  and  semi-skilled  work- 
ers. It  had  shortcomings,  such  as  the  autonomous  Dis- 
trict Assemblies,  but  it  was  developing  towards  an  in- 
dustrial form  of  organization,  and  would  have  but  for 
its  unsympathetic  leadership.  These  men  were  handi- 
capped by  an  overestimate  of  trades  union  importance. 
The  rivaly  of  the  A.  F.  of  L.  with  its  rigid  forms  tempted 
the  K.  of  L.  intellectuals  to  try  to  fashion  and  fit  similar 
organizations  within  the  Knights  of  Labor  where  they 
could  not  find  a  congenial  atmosphere,  and,  consequently, 
could  not  flourish.  The  timidity  of  the  K.  of  L.  leader- 
ship, instead  of  making  the  Haymarket  affair  a  point 
from  which  to  develop,  lost  heart  a'nd  missed  a  great 
opportunity.  Many  of  the  internationals,  now  organized 
in  the  A.  F.  of  L.,  owe  their  origin  to  the  Knights  of 
Labor.  It  was  a  splendid  organization  and  won  the  work- 
ing class  of  America  and  the  world  an  experience  that 
will  yet  serve  it  well. 

159.  What  was  the  International  Labor  Union? 

An  organization  started  in  the  early  part  of  1878. 
This  body  aimed  to  unite  the  working  class  for  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  wage  system.  Among  other  things,  it  pro- 
posed : 

"1.  The  formation  of  an  Amalgamated  Union  of  la- 
borers so  that  members  of  any  calling  can  combine  under 
a  central  head  and  form  a  part  of  the  Amalgamated 
Trades  Unions. 

49 


"2.  The  establishment  of  a  general  fund  for  benefit 
and  protective  purposes. 

**3.  The  organization  of  all  workingmen  in  their  Trade 
Unions,  and  the  creation  of  such  unions  where  none  exist. 

The  National  and  International  Amalgamation  of 
all  Labor  Unions.'' 

This  union  achieved  a  membership  of  about  8,000 
members  within  the  year,  almost  entirely  textile  work- 
ers. It  elected  a  delegate  to  attend  the  next  Trades 
Congress  of  England.  But  a  series  of  strikes  in  the  tex- 
tile industry,  which  failed,  reduced  the  membership  so 
that  no  funds  were  available  to  send  the  delegate.  This 
union,  through  one  branch  in  Hoboken,  maintained  a 
nominal  existence  until  1887,  when  it  disappeared. 

160.  How  many  trades  were  organized  nationally  at  the  close 
of  the  '70's? 

There  were  in  the  lieighborhood  of  thirty.  There  were, 
however.  Trades  Assemblies  in  about  thirty-five  cities 
and  counties  in  which  more  than  a  hundred  different 
trades  were  represented. 

161.  When  was  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  formed? 

In  1881,  in  Pittsburgh.  It  was  the'n  known  as  the 
Federated  Trades  and  Labor  Unions  of  the  United  States 
and  Canada.  In  1886  it  resolved  itself  into  the  A.  F.  of  L. 

162.  Was  the  A.  F.  of  L.  designed  to  be  a  national  economic 
organization  when  created  ? 

The  call  for  the  first  convention  was  vague  on  this 
point.  There  would  appear  to  have  been  an  implication 
that  the  federated  unions  would  act  unitedly  whe'never 
an  emergency  arose.  The  call  stated  that  "only  in  such  a 
body  (a  federation  of  trades)  can  proper  action  be  taken 
to  promote  the  general  welfare  of  the  industrial  classes. 
There  we  can  discuss  and  examine  all  questions  affecting 
the  national  interests  of  each  and  every  trade,  and  by  a 
combination  of  forces  secure  that  justice  which  isolated 
and  separated  trades  and  labor  unions  can  never  fully 
command."  To  the  rank  and  file  such  "a  combination 
of  forces"  could  only  mean  industrial  joint  actio'n,  while 
the  officials  might  interpret  it  to  mean  whatever  they 
desired. 

The  idea  of  a  lobbying  committee  was  put  plainly, 


50 


which  "could  be  elected  to  urge  and  advance  legislation 
at  Washington  on  all  such  measures." 

The  idea  was  also  advanced  that  "a  federation  of  this 
character  can  be  organized  with  a  few  simple  rules  and 
no  salaried  officers."  That  is  an  idea  from  which  the 
federation  has  traveled  very  far  indeed. 

163.  Did  the  A.  F.  of  L.  become  a  national  movement? 

It  has  not  yet  become  so.  It  is  merely  a  political 
body  imposed  upon  the  affiliated  international  unions, 
whose  function  is  to  solicit  consideration  for  labor  from 
Congress,  decide  questions  of  jurisdiction  between  the 
component  unions,  but  without  power  to  enforce  its  de- 
cisions. It  cannot  order  or  call  off  strikes,  nor  commit 
the  unions  composing  it  to  any  program,  nor  prohibit 
anything  that  any  of  them  may  decide  upon.  It  is  not 
a  national  movement,  but  is  resigned  to  prevent  the 
formation  of  an  eco'nomic  movement  upon  a  national  or 
international  scale.  Only  upon  two  occasions  did  it  make 
attempts  to  function  nationally  in  an  economic  way: 
First,  on  the  occasion  of  the  8-hour  strike  in  May,  1886, 
and  again  when  a  decision  was  reached  in  the  1888  coli- 
vention  to  make  a  united  effort  to  establish  the  eight- 
hour  day  on  May  1,  1890.  The  vote  favoring  this  sug- 
gestion was  38  to  8.  The  convention  in  1889  revoked 
the  decision  to  institute  a  general  strike,  and  adopted  a 
program  whereby  one  union  would  strike  and  receive 
financial  backi'ng.  After  the  union  selected  had  won  the 
eight-hour  day,  another  union  would  be  designated  to 
make  the  demand ;  until  the  eight-hour  day  was  generally 
established.  For  the  purposes  of  supporting  such  unions 
as  would  be  designated  "the  Executive  Council  was  au- 
thorized to  levy  a  special  assessment  of  two  cents  per 
week  per  member  for  a  period  of  five  weeks." 

164.  How  did  this  program  work  out? 

Thei  Carpenters'  Union  was  the  first  one  selected  to 
make  the  trial  on  May  1,  1890.  The  carpenters  are 
reported  to  have  "won  the  eight-hour  day  in  137  cities, 
and  gained  the  nine-hour  day  in  most  other  places." 
The  miners  were  selected  to  make  the  fight  in  1891, 
but  in  the  months  prior  to  May,  the  miners,  whose  organ- 
ization did  not  include  more  than  one-tenth  of  the  mine 
workers,  became  involved  in  a  strike  in  the  Connells- 
ville  coke  region.    In  this  emergency  they  requested 

51 


the  Executive  Council  of  the  A.  F.  of  L.  to  levy  the 
assessment  for  their  support  in  this  strike.  The  Exe- 
cutive Council  refused  to  do  so.  As  a  consequence, 
the  United  Mine  Workers  refused  to  strike  on  May  1. 
The  barbers'  union  asked  the  convention  of  1891  to  be 
designated  as  the  union  to  make  the  attempt  in  1892. 
The  matter  was  referred  to  the  Executive  Council  of  the 
A.  F.  of  L.,  v^here  it  was  buried,  and  no  further  at- 
tempt has  since  been  made.  The  eight-hour  movement 
was  dead  as  far  as  the  A.  F.  of  L.  was  concerned. 

165.  Was  not  the  A.  F.  of  L.  in  favor  of  the  shorter  workday? 

Actions  speak  louder  than  words,  and  are  the  test  by 
which  profession  is  gauged.  It  renders  lip  service  to  the 
idea,  but,  as  an  organization,  does  nothing  to  advance 
it.  While  it  is  recorded  as  having  initiated  the  eight- 
hour  strike  in  1886,  there  is  little  question  that  this  was 
very  largely  in  the  nature  of  an  advertising  stunt,  for 
its  affiliated  unions  embraced  less  than  one-fourth  of 
the  then  organized  workers.  Its  annual  receipts  up  to 
that  time  had  never  exceeded  $700.  It  had  an  ambition 
to  grow,  and  to  do  so,  it  was  compelled  to  attract  atten- 
tion and  membership.  As  a  legislation-seeking  body  it 
had  failed  to  impress  the  workers.  So  the  1884  conven- 
tion considered  two  proposals:  (1)  a  general  strike  for 
the  eight-hour  day  on  May  1,  1886,  and,  (2)  that  each 
affiliated  union  pledge  two  per  cent  of  its  total  revenue 
toward  creating  a  strike  fund.  This  was  an  attempt 
to  transform  the  A.  F.  of  L.  into  a  national  economic 
organization.  The  strike  proposal  carried  by  a  vote 
of  23  to  2.  The  strike  fund  proposition  was  referred 
to  the  affiliated  unions.  So  few  of  these  favored  the 
idea  that  it  came  to  naught.  In  1888,  as  stated  in  the 
answer  to  the  preceding  question,  a  strike  fund  was 
again  provided  for  in  a  modified  form,  but  soon  was 
abandoned,.  ' 

166.  If  the  A.  F.  of  L.  inaugurated  the  eight-hour  strike  in 
1886,  how  came  the  K.  of  L.  to  be  involved  in  it? 

The  shorter  workday  was  of  surpassing  interest  to  all 
labor.  The  A.  F.  of  L.,  with  less  than  50,000  members, 
could  not  hope,  of  and  by  itself,  to  make  much  of  an 
impression.  It  therefore  extended  an  invitation  to  the 
K.  of  L.  to  co-operate.  This  appeal  was  warmly  re- 
ceived by  the  Knights.    However,  Powderly  and  his 

52 


official  family  threw  cold  water  upon  the  idea.  The 
leading  figures  in  the  A.  F.  of  L.  were  lukewarm.  Had 
the  spirit  that  animated  the  rank  and  file  of  organized 
labor  in  both  camps  been  shared  by  the  officials,  a  great 
deal  more  could  have  been  done  than  was  accomplished. 
Only  a  fraction  of  what  was  possible  was  secured.  More- 
over, the  seed  of  enmity  and  resentment  was  planted  i'n 
the  minds  of  the  workers,  and  a  crop  of  prejudices  had 
grown  up  amongst  them  that  smothered  their  class  in- 
stincts and  prevented  that  toleration  of  opinion  upon 
which  working  class  progress  must  depend. 

167.  Why  should  such  an  organization  die  while  the  A.  F.  of 
L.  survives? 

If  you  are  an  employer  it  is  likely  that  you  would  pre- 
fer not  to  have  an  organization  in  your  establishment 
which  would  embarass  you  and  compel  you  to  grant 
concessions  that  in  its  absence  you  would  not  even  deign 
to  consider.  It  is  more  than  likely  that  you  would  give 
a  great  deal  to  be  rid  of  it.  Now,  when  the  K.  of  L. 
brought  Jay  Gould  to  terms  it  demonstrated  that  labor 
solidarity  was  equal  to  the  power  to  the  strongest  cor- 
porations of  the  time.  This  exhibition  of  power  was  re- 
garded by  the  capitalist  class  as  a  menace  to  be  removed. 
That  which  offers  hope  to  labor  is  always  a  menace  to 
the  employing  class.  Now,  the  capitalists  saw  a  contem- 
poraneous organization  of  workers  which  behaved 
itself  in  an  entirely  different  manner.  So  they  were 
prompt  to  take  advantage  of  the  situation.  They  used 
the  A.  F.  of  L.  unions  to  stab  the  Knights  of  Labor  in  the 
back.  This  tactic  of  the  employers  inaugurated  the  era 
when  the  charges  were  hurled  back  and  forth  between 
the  organizations  that  each  was  scabbing  upon  the  other. 
The  desire  for  membership  upon  the  part  of  both  was 
at  the  bottom  of  this  suicidal  conduct.  The  A.  F.  of  L. 
temporarily  enjoyed  the  favor  of  the  capitalists  as  their 
choice  of  the  least  of  two  evils.  By  the  time  the  Knights 
of  Labor  was  hors  de  combat  the  A.  F.  of  L.  bore  the 
brand  of  capitalist  agent  burned  deeply  and  inefaceably 
into  it. 

168.  Has  not  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  overcome 
some  of  the  difficulties  that  beset  earlier  union  attempts  ? 

It  has  survived  for  over  forty  years,  but  has  done  so 

53 


only  by  avoiding  everything  which  a  labor  organization 
should  have  attempted.  If  it  had  aimed  to  be  a  body  in- 
fluencing legislation  to  be  consistent  it  should  have  form- 
ed a  political  party.  It  has  not  done  so.  If  it  had  aimed 
to  influe'nce  legislation  by  a  show  of  economic  power  it 
should  have  become  a  national  economic  expression.  This 
it  has  not  done.  It  has  attempted,  or  pretended,  to  ad- 
vance and  improve  the  legal  status  of  labor  by  making  its 
appeals  for  consideration  upon  moral  and  humanitarian 
grounds.  That  it  has  not  been  successful  as  a  legislative 
getting  body  is  testified  by  the  fact  that  the  legal  status 
of  labor  is  on  a  lower  level  now  than  ever  before.  What 
laws  have  been  secured  are  of  a  minor  character,  and 
many  of  these  laws  have  been  declared  unconstitutional 
by  the  courts.  It  is  capitalistic  and  militaristic  —  both 
anti-labor  features.  It  never  meets  adverse  decrees  or 
legislative  inaction  with  the  challenge  of  economic  po- 
wer. It  is  a  belly-crawling  organization  at  best,  which 
deludes  the  workers  and  holds  them  helpless  before  every 
onslaught  of  capital.  Its  failures  in  regard  to  labor,  if 
not  its  betrayal  of  the  labor  interest,  is  the  price  it  has 
paid  for  capitalist  tolerance. 

169.  Was  the  A.  F.  of  L.  ever  a  real  Labor  Organization? 

No.  Common's  History  of  Labor  in  the  United  States 
says  of  the  unsuccessful  attempts  by  national  uliions  to 
effect  a  national  organization:  "The  initiative  which  was 
finally  crowned  with  success  came  apparently  from  a 
non-trade  union  source.  A  disaffected  group  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor,  who  desired  to  establish  a  rival  order, 
called  a  co'nference  for  this  purpose.''  It  was  significant 
that  68  of  the  107  delegates  were  from  the  Pittsburgh 
vicinity  and  mainly  Knights  of  Labor.  Common's  history 
says:  "The  large  attendance  of  Knights  was  due  to  fear 
that  a  rival  to  their  order  was  to  be  established."  Their 
fear  was  well  founded. 

170.  Is  it  possible  to  change  the  A.  F.  of  L.  by  boring  from 
within  ? 

About  as  possible  as  irrigating  the  Sahara  desert  with 
a  garden  hose.  The  A.  F.  of  L.  is  capitalistic  and  cannot 
tolerate  the  spreading  of  working  class  ideas  within  its 
ranks.  Those  who  preach  boring  from  within  capitalist 
unions  are  on  a  par  with  workers  who  pay  for  member- 

54 


ship  in  a  Chamber  of  Commerce  to  use  it  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  proletarian  interest.  Craft  unions,  in 
our  day,  are  not  labor  unions;  they  are  gatherings  of 
workers  under  the  control  of  capitalist  agents.  They  are 
not  designed  to  further  the  labor  interest  but  to  restrain 
the  laborers  in  the  interest  of  capitalist  property.  As 
long  as  the  working  people  regard  them  as  well-inten- 
tioned but  poorly  constructed  and  ignorantly  wielded 
working  class  weapons,  attempts  will  be  made  to  re- 
model and  regenerate  them.  Only  when  they  recognize 
them  for  the  capitalist  instruments  that  they  are,  will  the 
workers  cast  them  aside  and  fashion  a  weapon  suitable 
to  and  capable  of  successfully  furthering  the  working 
class  end  of  a  world-wide  battle.  An  augur  may  bore 
a  hole  that  will  empty  a  tank,  but  a  tank  cannot  be 
remodelled  with  an  augur  or  a  gimlet.  It  is  impossible 
to  change  the  A.  F.  of  L.  It  is  as  impossible  to  change  it 
as  to  change  a  timber  wolf  into  a  lap  dog,  or  to  make  a 
house  pet  of  a  skunk. 

171.  If  the  A.  F.  of  L.  is  not  a  labor  organization,  what  is  it? 

It  might  be  called  a  'national  association  of  labor  brok- 
ers. In  the  first  years  of  its  existence  there  were  some  in- 
fluences at  work  trying  to  mould  it  into  a  national  ec- 
onomic body.  For  ten  years  these  influences  and  others 
tending  in  the  opposite  direction  were  in  conflict.  The 
forces  that  made  for  an  economic  function  were  out-man- 
ouvered,  and  the  A.  F.  of  L.  settled  itself  down  to  solicit 
political  conventions  and  implore  legislative  bodies,  while 
the  intern atio'nal  unions  through  all  their  branches  un- 
dertook to  obtain  the  control  of  jobs  and  to  deal  in  la- 
bor power.  The  unions  were  prostituted  from  their  job- 
regulating  functions  to  instruments  for  the  aggrandize- 
ment of  the  officialdom.  For  many  years  the  official  ma- 
chines that  have  bee'n  built  up  have  controlled  these  uni- 
ons and  used  them  as  political  levers  and  stepping  stones 
to  power  and  financial  security  for  the  official  groups. 

Any  city  craft  union  movement  will  bear  out  this  con- 
tention. The  building  trades  achieved  great  power  at  a 
time  when  the  margin  between  journeymen  and  con- 
tractors was  slight.  Rival  contractors  vied  with  each  oth- 
er for  the  favor  of  men  who  stood  high  in  union  circles, 
and  as  a  result  vicious  combinations  with  business  and 


55 


political  connections  were  established.  Slight  advances 
to  the  rank  and  file  had  to  be  conceded,  and  the  business 
agent  or  labor  leader  who  fixed  a  deal  whereby  his  union 
constituency  benefitted  even  slightly  won  the  devotion 
of  the  men.  He  became  automatically  a  personage  for 
politicians  to  connect  up  with  and  for  business  interests 
to  deal  with.  One  of  the  consequences  was  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  new,  or  go-between  element  in  the  union 
movement  with  their  own  peculiar  interests  to  serve — • 
neither  capitalists  'nor  workers  —  who  shared  with  the 
capitalists  and  preyed  upon  the  workers.  They  "called" 
and  "settled''  strikes  as  their  interests  dictated  and  when 
in  their  judgment  situations  were  ripe. 

Graft  had  become  an  institution  in  the  name  and  un- 
der the  auspices  of  u'nionism.  So  true  is  this,  that,  while 
,  real  labor  people  deplore  that  graft,  the  grafters  are 
seldom  challenged  or  impeached;  so  great  has  their  po- 
wer become.  This  refers  principally  to  local  labor  move- 
ments, but  these  had  to  depend  upon  national  and  Can- 
adian connections.  So,  raised  upon  this  basis,  the  inter- 
national offices  could  only  differ  in  the  modification  of 
the  means  employed.  Where  the  business  agents  con- 
nected up  with  local  politicians,  the  higher-up  officials 
sat  in  with  the  Big  Capitalists  and  national  party  rig- 
gers in  the  Civic  Federation,  and  the  whole  craft  union 
system  was  dominated  by  an  influence  foreign,  alien  and 
inimical  to  the  working  class  interest.  The  so-called  la- 
bor movement  of  the  United  States  and  Canada  is  a  busi- 
ness institution  for  the  purpose  of  controlling  and  guid- 
ing labor  discontent  into  chanels  where  it  threatens  least 
injury  to  the  capitalist  interest,  which  is  only  aliother 
way  of  saying  that  the  least  possible  benefit  is  conferred 
upon  the  workers. 

172.  Is  it  meant  that  the  A.  F.  of  L.  is  consciously  so? 

Just  that.  Any  visitor  to  an  A.  F.  of  L.  convention 
who  is  conversant  with  and  interested  in  the  welfare  of 
the  American  workers  is  struck  by  the  alertness  of  the 
international  officers  in  suppressing  or  diverting  expres- 
sions of  ra'nk  and  file  opinion,  which  challenge  their  wis- 
dom and  sincerity,  or  the  effectiveness  of  their  organiza- 
tions. This  convention  truly  represents  the  dominant 
labor  movement  in  America.    The  interests  or  opinions 

56 


of  the  working  members  have  no  place  in  its  delibera- 
tions. It  were  far  more  correctly  termed  an  annual  con- 
vention of  American  labor-brokers.  These  delegates, 
with  the  exception  of  a  scattering  few  with  little  voting 
power,  represent  the  controlling  influence  over  organ- 
ized American  labor  power.  That  is  their  special  and 
particular  business.  Unity  of  the  workers  would  de- 
stroy that  business,  and  these  well-fed,  well-groomed, 
well-paid  business  men  cannot  tolerate  any  idea  that 
would  deprive  them  of  their  comfortable  means  of  liveli- 
hood and  relegate  them  to  their  old  v/orking  places,  even 
the  memory  of  which  they  are  reluctant  to  renew. 

173.  How  do  these  men  exercise  such  a  power  as  is  here  at- 
tributed to  them? 

If  you  are  the  average  union  man  you  joined  the  union, 
after  having  paid  an  initiation  fee  which  you  thought 
excessive,  and  dues  you  felt  to  be  beyond  the  require- 
ments of  the  union.  After  a  meeting  or  two  you  failed 
to  attend  meetings,  except  upon  special  occasions,  be- 
cause you  found  the  local  dominated  by  an  influence 
against  which  you  and  those  who  thought  with  you  were 
powerless  to  contend.  There  was  ever  present  i'n  your 
mind  the  thought  that  upon  being  parted  from  your  pres- 
ent job,  or  changing  your  present  location  you  must  find 
another  job,  either  in  your  present  location  or  a  new  olie, 
and  a  union  card  would  make  it  easier  to  do  so.  More- 
over, as  a  general  thing,  wages,  hours  and  conditions 
were  better  in  unionized  employment.  So  you  "kept  up 
your  card.*'  That  card  was  a  letter  of  introduction  and 
a  reconimendation  for  a  job  in  strange  places  and  new 
employments.  You  came  to  regard  your  union  expenses 
as  an  employment  fee  paid  for  a  chance  to  obtain  em- 
ployment easier  than  without  such  connection.  The  re- 
sult was  that  you  grew  to  pay  no  more  attention  to  local 
and  international  union  affairs  than  you  would  to  the 
conduct  of  any  other  employment  agency  to  which  you 
had  paid  a  fee.  You  kept  a  union  card  to  facilitate 
your  getting  employment.  Your  union  you  did  not  re- 
gard seriously  as  an  instrument  by  which  much  greater 
benefits  might  be  secured  and  steadier  employment  ob- 
tained. In  fact,  encountering,  as  you  did,  the  ubiquitous 
business  agent,  you  learned  to  regard  him  as  a  personage 

57 


to  conciliate  more  than  the  foreman  or  superintendent 
under  whom  you  worked.  He  exercised  more  control 
over  your  life  than  any  other  agency  with  which  you 
came  into  contact.  He  was  one  to  conciliate  and  to 
"sta'nd  in"  with.  THE  UNION  WAS  HIS.  It  was,  be- 
cause the  union  members  abdicated  in  favor  the  official- 
dom. That  is  the  power  in  which  the  officialdom  of  the 
A.  F.  of  L.  deals;  that  is  their  business;  the  business  of 
controlling — and  delivering — unassertive,  docilely  obe- 
dient, and  submissive  packages  of  human  labor  power 
like  you. 

174.  Why  say  the  A.  F.  of  L.  bears  the  brand  of  capitalist 
agent? 

Because  it  does.  It  has  lost  the  militancy  that  marked 
the  first  ten  years  of  its  existence.  Its  aggressiveness 
was  tempered  by  the  reluctance  of  forces  that  came  to 
control  it  absolutely  after  its  tenth  year.  The  jealous 
regard  of  the  international  unions  for  autonomy  made 
itself  felt  in  the  adoption  of  the  first  and  second  sections 
of  Article  I,  of  the  constitution.  The  first  of  these,  by 
co'nfining  the  function  of  the  A.  F.  of  L.  to  the  effort 
of  securing  labor  legislation,  denied  it  the  opportunity 
of  ever  becoming  a  national  labor  union ;  and  there  was 
retained  to  the  international  unions,  in  the  second  sec- 
tion, the  privilege  of  being  the  only  national  economic 
expressions  of  their  particular  organized  groups.  Here, 
at  the  very  outset  of  its  career,  the  Federation  became 
the  loosest  kind  of  a  bo'nd  between  the  international 
unions.  It  took  on  the  appearance  of  national  unity,  be- 
hind which  was  hidden  permanent  and  unalterable  div- 
ision of  the  American  working  class. 

The  A.  F.  of  L.  really  performs  no  legitimate  function 
for  labor,  but  it  does  serve  the  interests  of  the  capitalists 
by  making  for  a  perpetually  divided  and,  therefore, 
weakened  condition  of  the  American  working  class. 
What  serves  capitalism  is  capitalistic.  Its  preamble  is 
contradicted  by  its  constitution.  The  one  proclaims  the 
class  struggle,  the  other  denies  it.  Where  "strict  auto- 
nomy of  each  trade''  prevails,  it  will,  in  the  words  of 
the  A.  F.  of  L.  preamble,  *'work  disastrous  results  to 
the  toiling  millions.''  Between  unions  unassociated  and 
those  separated  by  the  rigid  lines  of  trade  autonomy 

58 


there  is  little  difference,  a'nd  whatever  difference  there 
is  redounds  to  the  advantage  of  unassociated  unions. 
While  the  fiction  of  unity  is  preserved  by  the  A.  F.  of  L., 
the  industrial  kinship  of  the  different  groups  can  never 
find  expression. 

As  long  as  a  permanent  organization  for  soliciting 
labor  legislation  is  passed  off  for  effective  combination 
of  national  unions,  the  organized  workers  are  being  im- 
posed upon.  If  the  best  that  more  than  two  million  work- 
ers can  do  is  to  provide  themselves  with  a  lobbying 
committee,  some  influence,  that  is  not  a  labor  influence, 
is  misguiding  them.  And  what  is  not  a  labor  influence 
in  capitalist  society  is  a  capitalist  influence.  There  is  no 
neutral  ground. 

And  what  have  they  got,  these  labor  solicitors  for  more 
than  2,000,000  organized  workers?  A  beggar's  portion 
— more  refusals  tha'n  laws.  What  laws  have  been  con- 
ceded were  of  a  minor  character,  and  while  the  courts 
were  empowered  to  decide,  even  these  are  not  secure. 
The  invocation  of  the  Lever  Act  against  the  miners  i'n 
1919,  and  the  Coronado  decision  recently,  is  a  negation 
that  ought  to  drive  home  to  the  American  workers  the 
"need  for  some  other  attitude  than  a  begging  posture  be- 
fore legislative  bodies  and  cowering  posture  before  the 
courts.  The  craft  union  system  was  made  to  order  for 
the  capitalists. 

The  policy  of  time  agreements,  which  originated  with 
the  employers  in  1890,  is  an  essentially  capitalistic  fea- 
ture of  craft  union  policy.  All  agreements  are  arranged 
to  expire  at  different  times.  As  a  result,  the  employer 
whose  industry  is  organized  under  the  craft  union  system 
is  always  assured  that  his  industrial  inconvenience  will 
be  as  slight  as  the  craft  system  can  make  it.  Craft  union- 
ism is  insurance  for  the  boss  against  very  serious  em- 
barrasment.  Co'ntrariwise,  it  is  a  serious  handicap  and 
an  embarrassment  to  the  working  group  which  it  con- 
demns to  fight  alone ;  for  one  set  of  union  workers  in  an 
organized  employment  may  strike  to  adjust  a  grievance, 
but  the  rest  of  the  organized  workers,  bound  by  their 
agreements,  remain  at  work  and  assist  the  employer — 
thus  helping  to  defeat  the  strikers  with  whom  they  are 
in  sympathy  to  the  last  heart  beat.    Nothing  on  earth, 


59 


except  the  craft  union  system,  could  induce  these  work- 
ers to  scab  upon  their  fellows. 

So  often  has  this  happened  that  it  would  be  a  waste 
of  paper  to  set  forth  all  of  the  numerous  occasions. 
These  are  a  few  of  the  most  flagrant  instances: 

The  Homestead  strike  (1892)  ;  Buffalo  switchmen's 
strike  (1892)  ;  Pullman  strike  (1894) ;  Bituminous  strike 
(1902)  ;  the  Harriman  System  Federation  strike  (1911)  ; 
San  Francisco  street-car  men  (1907) ;  Chicago  packing 
house  workers  (1904),  etc.  These  are  only  a  few  of  the 
lost  strikes  for  which  the  craft  system  of  unionism  is 
solely  responsible.  These  were  o'nly  a  foretaste  of  what 
the  many  strikes  since  and  the  open  shop  drive  of  the 
present  were  to  make  the  craft  unionists  acquainted  with. 

Even  the  agreement  is  being  denied  and  arbitration 
demanded.  To  this  the  A.  F.  of  L.  seems  to  agree, — 
that  the  brokers  may  still  deal  i'n  American  labor  power 
— for  we  find  only  today  (July  22,  1922),  that  the  com- 
mittee of  international  officers  of  the  A.  F.  of  L.  build- 
ing trades  have  determined  to  bring  the  Chicago  build- 
ing trades  under  the  terms  of  the  infamous  Landis 
Award  amd  under  the  domination  of  the  anti-labor 
Citizen  Committee;  and  to  do  so,  they  are  organizing 
a  dual  Building  Trades  Council.  Verily,  the  A.  F.  of  L. 
bears  the  brand  of  capitalist  agent. 

175.  Why  say  craft  union  system? 

Because  unless  we  see  the  craft  unions  as  a  system,  we 
fail  to  understand  their  sig'nificance.  A  body  of  men 
following  a  special  line  of  work  might  advantageously 
organize  themselves  into  a  union  to  advance  their  inter- 
ests. Then  when  they  found  out  that  such  a  union  was 
uliequal  to  serving  them,  they  would  naturally  incline  to 
enlist  with  them  such  other  labor  classifications  as  would 
enable  them  to  meet  and  deal  with  a  condition  or  con- 
ditions which  they  could  not  favorably  influence  alone. 
As  the  function  of  unions  is  ecoliomic,  it  is  natural  that 
an  alliance  betweenthem  or  a  federation  of  unions,  would 
have  an  economic  object.  When,  therefore,  we  find  al- 
liances that  serve  another  and  different  purpose  to  the 
extent  that  they  entirely  defeat  the  natural  object  of 
the  component  units,  the  intent  of  the  workers  compos- 
ing these  bodies  has  been  misdirected.    The  American 


60 


Federation  alone  is  only  a  part  of  that  system.  The 
railroad  unions  are  the  other  part.  Combined,  these 
constitute  a  system  whereby  the  purposes  of  inter-union 
combination  is  defeated. 

176.  How  was  such  a  system  brought  about? 

By  fostering  economic  ignorance  among  the  workers. 
Without  that  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  foist  such 
a  system  upon  them.  The  philosophy  of  individualism 
extended  only  to  include  a  group,  is  the  base  upon  which 
the  system  is  built.  Every  man  is  vain  enough  to  desire 
the  good  opinion  of  his  neighbors,  and  in  the  labor  world, 
as  in  national  life,  every  man  and  group  desires  to  be 
regarded  as  a  patriot.  It  is  popular  to  be  patriotic  when 
patriotism  calls  for  nothing  more  than  pretense.  So  we 
find  the  appearance  of  unity  in  the  craft  union  system, 
concealing  effective  and  disastrous  division.  A  system 
that  not  only  divides,  while  pretending  to  unite,  but 
which  finds  its  main  excuse  for  existe'nce  in  the  inter- 
nicene  strife  that  it  cannot  eradicate  without  destroying 
itself,  is  in  the  nature  of  a  conspiracy. 

177.  What  is  meant  by  internicene  strife? 

Jurisdictional  disputes  between  unions.  When  two 
unions  each  claim  jurisdiction  over  the  workmen  who 
perform  a  certain  operation,  and  such  disputes  occur 
continually,  it  is  not  the  interest  of  unionism  that  is  in- 
volved in  the  controversy  but  the  "rights"  of  the  conflict- 
ing officials  to  the  dues  emanating  from  workmen  who 
are  employed  on  such  jobs.  If  it  were  only  the  interest 
of  unionism,  the  one  requirement  would  be  good  stand- 
ing in  any  union.  If  it  were  working  class  interest,  the 
ability  to  do  the  work  would  be  the  only  requirement. 
The  settlement  of  such  disputes  between  unions  affords 
employment  for  Executive  Councils  that  never  give  satis- 
faction. Autonomy  is  the  great  God  of  union  division. 
In  the  interest  of  autonomy  millions  of  dollars  have  been 
wasted  and  thousands  of  opportunities  lost  to  the  organ- 
ized workers. 

178.  How  are  opportunities  lost? 

If  even  the  comparatively  small  fraction  of  the  work- 
ers at  present  organized  into  the  craft  union  system 
would  act  as  an  economic  unit,  they  would  exert  a  power 
that  legislatures  would  heed  and  courts  not  treat  con- 

61 


temptuously.  Through  the  craft  system  they  are  pre- 
vented from  doing  so.  The  open  shop  drive  could  have 
been  broken  before  it  had  gotten  under  way.  The  min- 
ers' strike  could  have  been  won  in  a  week.  The  steel 
strike  would  not  have  gone  under.  The  mailitenance  of 
way  men  could  not  have  received  the  first  wage  cut,  let 
alone  the  others.  The  shop  crafts  would  not  be  fighting 
a  lost  cause.  There  would  have  been  no  Coronado  de- 
cision, no  Mooney  case,  no  Centralia  murder.  All  of 
these  and  thousa'nds  of  things  equally  bad  in  the  work- 
ing class  sense,  are  directly  traceable  to  the  craft  union 
system.  It  holds  nothing  in  check  but  the  aspiration  of 
the  workers;  denies  nothing  but  their  hopes;  and  defeats 
nothing  but  their  longing  for  united  action. 

179.  How  does  the  system  endure  if  that  is  true? 

By  support,  not  necessarily  fina'ncial,  from  capitalist 
sources. 

180.  If  that  be  so,  how  is  the  open  shop  drive  accounted  for? 

The  capitalist  class  is  not  without  division.  The  high- 
est strata  of  the  employing  class  are  intolerant  of  any 
form  of  workers'  combination  which  has  in  it  the  kernel 
of  resistance  to  the  capitalist  ambition.  The  craft  sys- 
tem has  within  it  a  working  membership  who  are  com- 
pelled by  the  nature  of  their  economic  circumstances  to 
analyze  even  their  own  unions  a'nd  the  system  which 
these  compose.  The  value  of  the  craft  system  to  the  cap- 
italist depends  upon  the  ability  of  the  managers  of  the 
system  to  control  the  members  of  the  unions.  If,  at  any 
time,  this  would  prove  to  be  beyond  the  power  of  these 
ma'nagers  then  a  situation  would  result  which  would  be 
extremely  perilous  to  the  capitalist  regime. 

If,  for  instance,  the  unions'  members  were  to  realize 
the  capitalist  nature  of  the  system,  and  would  deprive 
the  system  managers  of  control,  these  members,  cogniz- 
ant of  organization  value,  might  consolidate  their  forces 
into  a  single  union  with  disastrous  co'nsequences  to  the 
capitalist  control  of  society.  If,  however,  with  the  aid  of 
the  craft  system,  they  could  destroy  these  unions,  the 
idea  of  unionism  would  receive  a  body  blow  from  which 
it  would  take  it  some  time  to  recover.  These  capitalists 
have  started  out  to  destroy  existing  unions,  regardless  of 
the  past  services  the  system  has  rendered,  not  because 

62 


of  any  impediment  they  offer  as  unions,  but  because  they 
are  the  breeding  ground  from  which  may  spring  that 
menacing  thing — one  union  of  the  working  class. 

181.  Are  the  large  capitalists  behind  the  open  shop  drive? 

It  looks  that  way.  They  are  not  only  the  driving  force 
behind  the  assault  upon  unionism  in  the  open  shop  move- 
ment, but  behind  all  the  legislation  proposed  for  national 
arbitration  bodies  by  means  of  which  it  is  intended  to 
compel  workers  to  labor  under  unacceptable  conditions 
of  unemployment.  They  are  also  trying  to  circumvent 
organizing  efforts  among  their  workers  by  means  of  In- 
dustrial Congresses,  Benefit  Societies,  pension  schemes, 
Industrial  Relation  plans.  Loyal  Legions,  etc. 

182.  Why  should  the  large  capitalists  take  the  lead  in  such  a 
program  ? 

Because  they  represent,  to  the  greatest  realized  extent, 
the  fulfillment  of  capitalist  ambition,  while  their  work- 
ing forces  represent  largely  the  other  extreme — a  little 
— skilled  proletariat.  In  the  very  largest  industrial  es- 
tablishments the  so-called  unskilled  workers  predom- 
inate. Once  this  element  of  the  working  class  is  organ- 
ized the  end  of  capitalism  is  in  sight.  As  long  as  the 
craft  organizations  exist,  while  there  is  no  danger  of 
their  organizing  outside  of  their  restricted  limits,  there 
exists  a  source  of  inspiration,  even  tho  it  be  an  example 
of  what  to  avoid.  Therefore,  the  large  capitalists,  ar- 
rogant and  at  the  same  time  fearful,  are  breaking  down 
the  barriers  behind  which  they  have  found  protection. 
A  protection  far  surpassing  anything  which  they,  them- 
selves, are  capable  of  creating. 

183.  But  do  not  craft  unions  organize  unskilled  workers? 

Not  as  they  should  and  must  be  organized.  ''No  man 
understands  better  than  the  king,  how  much  a  man  the 
king  is."  And  no  man  knows  better  than  the  modern 
"craftsman"  how  much  a  fiction  his  alleged  "craft  skill" 
is.  When  the  craft  unions  move  their  membership  lines 
to  include  helpers,  it  is  not  done  to  assist  the  helper  but 
to  remove  a  menace  to  themselves.  The  average  helper 
can,  in  a  comparatively  short  time,  learn  to  perform  the 
operation  upon  which  he  assists  the  "journeyman." 
Therefore,  it  is  only  common  sense  to  enroll  him  in  the 
union  as  a  subordinate.   Seniority  rules,  and  other  hagdi- 

63 


caps,  tend  to  control  him  better,  and  he  enters  into  every 
situation  with  a  feeling  of  family  loyalty.  However,  he 
remains  a  "helper''  and  should  he  find  himself  out  of 
employment  he  returns  to  the  realm  of  the  unskilled 
and  poorly  paid.  Should  he  secure  employment  in  an 
organized  shop  in  some  other  calling,  he  may  again 
become  a  *'union  helper"  upon  the  payment  of  a  new 
initiation  fee  and  new  dues.  Should  he  desire,  in  view 
of  industrial  uncertainty,  to  retain  his  old  along  with  his 
new  union  membership,  we  have  the  lowest  paid  worker 
in  industry  called  upon  to  furnish  the  greatest  financial 
proof  of  his  adherence  to,  and  belief  in  unionism.  Now, 
as  the  unskilled  or  little  skilled  worker  in  the  course  of 
a  few  years  may  find  himself  attached  to  several  trades 
— boilermaking,  machinist,  pipe  fitting,  firing,  mining 
(coal  or  metal),  building,  etc., — it  not  only  is  financially 
impossible  for  him  to  retain  union  membership,  but  it 
is  heartless  and  absurd  to  expect  him  to.  Thus,  any 
fair-mi'nded  person  is  able  to  see  at  a  glance,  not  only 
that  the  craft  union  system  cannot  organize  the  so-called 
unskilled,  but  is  designed  to  deprive  that  element  of 
every  possible  chance  to  organize. 

184.  Are  there  not  federal  labor  unions  composed  of  workers 
of  every  calling  in  the  A.  F.  of  L? 

Yes.  But  these  are  merely  recruiting  unions — a  form 
first  adopted  to  compete  with  the  mixed  Assemblies  of  the 
K.  of  L.,  and  used  later  to  oppose  the  I.  W.  W.  In  these 
unions  when  the  number  of  members,  following  any  call- 
ing which  is  organized  nationally,  reaches  the  minimum 
required  for  a  local  charter,  upon  demand  of  such  inter- 
national they  are  required  to  withdraw  themselves  fram 
the  Federal  Union  and  to  organize' as  a  local  of  the  In- 
ternational. It  may  be  said  of  such  unions  that  unity  is 
accomplished  only  for  the  purpose  of  division. 

185.  What  does  this  suggest? 

That  after  the  workers  achieve  unity  in  a  Federal  Union 
the  capitalists  take  charge  of  it  and  divide  it  up  to  suit 
their  ow*n  interests.  You,  as  a  worker,  would  desire  such  a 
union  as  is  implied  in  the  Fedral  Labor  Union — all  work- 
ers in  one  union.  An  employing  group,  or  even  an  indivi- 
dual employer,  would  want  them  divided  up,  and  bound 
by  rules  and  agreements,  so  that  they  could  not  act  to- 

64 


gether.  The  Federal  Union  and  what  becomes  of  it  demon- 
strates the  difference  between  a  working  class  concep- 
tion of  a  union  and  a  capitalist  conception.  It  is  just 
the  same  difference  as  between  the  working  class  con- 
ception and  the  A.  F.  of  L.  conception.  The  A.  F.  of  L. 
views  and  treats  labor  as  do  the  capitalists. 

186.  What  was  the  American  Railway  Union? 

An  industrial  union  of  land  transportation  workers. 
This  union  was  brought  into  existence  as  a  direct  result 
of  the  railroad  workers'  experience  in  the  Buffalo  switch- 
men's strike.  It  made  rapid  headway  and  in  the  spring 
of  1894  won  a  victory  over  the  Great  Northern  Ry.  Co. 
in  less  than  three  weeks. 

During  the  same  summer  the  Pullman  strike  was  in- 
augurated and  was  lost  through  the  treachery  of  the 
craft  union  system.  The  loss  of  this  strike  has  been  at- 
tributed to  the  hostility  of  the  courts,  the  federal  govern- 
ment; but  it  was  really  lost  because  the  craft  system  of 
unionism  could  not  lend  its  aid  to  the  workers  involved. 
A  general  conference  of  persons  nationally  prominent  in 
the  labor  movement  of  the  U.  S.  met  in  Chicago  in 
connection  with  this  great  strike.  It  is  said  that  this 
conference  "arranged  the  funeral  of  the  A.  R.  U."  as  a 
previous  similar  conference  had  doomed  the  strike  of 
the  Buffalo  switchmen. 

187.  What  became  of  the  A.  R.  U.? 

It  rapidly  lost  prestige  after  the  failure  of  1894,  and 
what  was  left  merged  with  the  Social  Democratic  Party 
in  1889. 

188.  What  ntemational  figure  was  connected  with  the  A. 
R.  U.? 

Eugene  V.  Debs.  Debs  contrary  to  all  precedent  quit 
a  high  official  position  with  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomo- 
tive Firemen  to  organize  the  A.  R.  U.  He  has  devoted 
his  life  to  the  emancipation  of  labor,  and  in  pursuit  of 
his  ideal  has  made  almost  as  many  enemies  as  any 
character  in  history.  His  admirers  number  millions  and 
include  most  of  his  enemies.  To  hate  and  persecute,  as 
his  enemies  have  Debs,  is  to  fear  him,  and  fear  is  the 
highest  tribute  of  admiration. 


65 


189.  What  was  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners? 

An  industrial  union  of  mine  workers  that  embraced 
all  working  classifications  necessary  to  the  production 
and  treatment  of  minerals.  At  first  it  included  coal  min- 
ers as  well  as  metal  miners,  and  coke  workers  as  well  as 
mill  and  smelter  employees.  This  was  one  of  the  most 
militant  labor  organizations  in  America.  Its  decline 
was  due  to  a  campaign  of  destruction  directed  by  agents 
of  the  Mine  Operators'  Association. 

190.  When  was  the  W.  F.  of  M.  organized? 

Following  the  Coeur  d'Alene  strike  of  1892.  Previous 
to  that  time  the  metal  and  coal  miners  of  the  west  were 
organized  in  local  unions.  The  results  of  the  Coeur  d'- 
Alene  strike  showed  the  need  for  greater  unity,  and  the 
W.  F.  of  M.  was  brought  into  existence.  It  had  a  bril- 
liant history  in  the  battle  of  American  labor  until  reac- 
tionary influence  gained  control  of  its  machinery,  only 
a  vestige  of  it  is  left  to  provide  a  nucleus  with  which 
it  is  hoped  to  defeat  or  delay  the  rise  of  a  worthy  succes- 
sor to  the  W.  F.  of  M.  of  the  nineties,  and  the  first  five 
years  of  the  twentieth  century. 

191.  With  what  events  was  the  W.  F.  of  M.  connected? 

With  the  Moyer-Haywood-Pettibone  case  and  the  for- 
mation of  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World.  It  also 
assisted  in  the  starting  of  the  Western  Labor  Union. 

192.  What  was  the  American  Labor  Union? 

An  organization  that  aimed  at  organizing  the  un- 
skilled elements  in  America'n  industry  as  the  basis  of  a 
working  class  unio'n. 

193.  What  became  of  the  A.  L.  U.? 

It  became  a  constituent  part  of  the  I.  W.  W.  in  1905. 

194.  What  was  the  United   Brotherhood   of   Railway  Em- 
ployes? 

An  organized  protest  against  craft  division  in  the  rail- 
road industry.  It  was  dissolved  into  the  I.  W.  W.  i'n  1905. 

195.  What  do  we  find  in  our  sketch  of  American  unionism? 

That  politics  is  deadly  to  unionism. 

196.  What  instainces  prove  this? 

Beginning  with  the  Mechanics'  Unio'n  of  Trade  Socie- 
ties in  Philadelphia  up  to  the  Knights  of  Labor,  politics 
killed  every  promising  union  movement. 


197.  What  other  factor  helped  to  kill  unionism? 

Cooperative  enterprises.  Many  of  the  attempts  of 
the  earliest  American  unions  were  co-operative,  and 
either  through  a  lack  of  business  capacity,  or  the  dis- 
honesty of  those  directing  them,  they  invariably  had  the 
effect  of  losing  out  and  ruiningthe  economic  organizations 
that  relied  upon  them.  The  opposition  of  both  Catholic 
and  Protestant  influences  to  co-operation  as  a  labor  policy 
no  doubt  prevented  to  some^extent  the  fina'ncing  of  such 
enterprises.  The  Catholic  churchmen  opposed  it  as  a 
"first  step  to  Socialism,"  and  a  writer  in  the  Christian 
Advocate  de'nounced  *'the  attempt  to  improve  on  the 
divine  law  (which)  is  not  ridiculous  simply;  it  is  absurd 
and  blasphemous.  If  men  cannot  live  and  get  along  as 
God  has  arranged  and  ordained,  they  can  get  along  in 
no  other  way/' 

The  stove  molders  had  at  one  time  eleve'n  co-operative 
foundries.  One  at  Troy,  N.  Y.  was  very  successful.  So 
much  so  that  the  co-operators  adopted  the  capitalist  view 
that  **the  fewer  the  stockholders  in  the  company  the 
greater  its  success.'*  While  these  co-operators  still  held 
to  membership  in  the  Moulder's  Union  they  said :  ''but  the 
trades  unions  are  of  no  use  now,  really."  Co-operation  in 
successful  enterprises  felt  the  restriction  of  union  rules 
and  interference. 

1 98.  What  conclusion  may  we  draw  ? 

We  are  justified  in  drawing  the  conclusion  that  when- 
ever a  union  tries  to  operate  outside  its  sphere — job  re- 
gulation— it  o'nly  defeats  its  purpose  and  destroys  itself. 

199.  What  is  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World? 

A  working  class  organization  with  the  revolutionary 
aim  of  overthrowing  capitalism.  The  unit  of  organiza- 
tion is  an  industry.  All  the  Industrial  unions  are  united 
in  the  general  organization.  All  laws  originate  in  the 
General  Convention  and  become  effective  only  when  pas- 
sed upon  by  majority  vote  of  the  membership.  Its  aim  is 
toward  i'nclusiveness,  and  with  this  end  in  view  its  policy 
favors  low  initiation  fees  and  dues.  It  has  a  universal 
card  system  so  that  a  member  can  transfer  from  one  in- 
dustrial union  to  another  without  extra  charge;  thus 
making  it  possible  for  its  members  to  hold  cCntinuous 

67 


membership  regardless  of  changes  of  employment  and 
location. 

This  union  has  had  remarkable  success  in  handling 
large  strikes,  such  as  the  textile  strike  in  Lawrence  and 
other  Massachusetts  towns,  and  in  Patterson  and  Little 
Falls,  N.  Y.,  It  also  struck  terror  into  the  hearts  of  the 
steel  kings  at  McKees  Rocks,  Pa.  The  rubber  barons  of 
Akron,  Ohio,  were  taught  a  bitter  lesson  by  the  I.  W.  W. 
This  organization,  never  strong  in  numbers  until  recently, 
has  so  strong  a  working  class  appeal  that  it  has  gone  into 
unorganized  territory  and  stirred  whole  working  class 
populations  into  activity  on  behalf  of  their  interests  as 
workers. 

No  organization  just  like  the  I.  W.  W.  has  ever  before 
appeared  above  the  American  labor  horizon.  It  embo- 
dies all  the  experiences  of  American  labor  and  crystal- 
lizes all  its  spirit.  It  is  a  purely  genuine  proletarian  type 
of  organization.  It  tears  the  sham  from  the  craft  unions 
and  exposes  them,  showing  up  all  their  fallacies  and 
weaknesses.  It  is  the  terror  of  the  craft  union  oligarchy, 
as  it  is  of  the  capitalists.  Both  have  vilified,  slandered, 
and  persecuted  it.  No  other  organization  has  been  so 
grieviously  misrepresented  and  pitilessly  persecuted. 
While  its  members  have,  and  are  yet,  selected  for  victim- 
ization in  industry  and  by  the  legal  authorities,  the  or- 
ganization itself  has  gained  membership  and  influence, 
and  is  today  strategically  the  most  advantageously  placed 
economic  organization  in  America. 

Every  attack  upon  the  I.  W.  W.  has  redounded  to  its 
benefit,  driving  it  more  securely  into  the  consciousness  of 
the  world's  workers.  For,  peculiarly  enough,  every  act 
of  this  organization  was  of  proletarian  origin  and  every 
tactic  an  adaptation  of  the  workers'  experiences  in  indus- 
try. It  was  enabled  to  turn  attacks  upon  it  to  its  own  ad- 
vantage with  the  versatility  of  that  proletariat  whom  it 
can  truly  claim  to  represent.  When  a  task  is  to  be  per- 
formed in  industry,  it  is  to  be  performed;  there  must  be 
no  acknowledgement  of  defeat.  The  same  spirit  has  dom- 
inated the  I.  W.  W.  This  makes  it  an  enigma  to  the  cap- 
italist class  and  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  "the  Labor  Lieuten- 
ants of  Capitalism,"  as  Mark  Hanna  aptly  termed  the 
craft  union  officialdom.  They  do  not  understand  the 
workers'  problem  and  are  only  concerned  about  the  cap- 

68 


italist  side  of  the  problem.  Consequently,  anything  gen- 
uinely labor  is  to  both  a  profound  mystery. 
If  the  I.W.W.  had  been  co'ntrolled  by  "intellectuals,"  or 
dominated  by  professional  labor  leaders,  it  would  have 
gotie  the  way  of  all  previous  efforts  to  supply  labor  with 
an  effective  instrument.  Having  been  wrested  from  the 
control  of  these  elements  at  an  early  stage  of  its  career, 
and  having  been  controlled  by  purely  proletarian  ele- 
ments, it  has  weathered  all  the  heavy  seas  and  kept  its 
course  despite  cyclonic  storms  of  persecution.  The  blud- 
geon, the  bullet,  the  penitentiary,  lynchings,  and  tar-pots 
— every  outrage,  every  scurrilous  attack  has  added  a  new 
leaflet  to  its  propaganda,  put  a  new  tone  into  every  new 
appeal.  The  I.  W.  W.  has  demonstrated  that  capitalism 
can  recruit  no  force  to  smash  or  to  deter  it.  The  I.  W.  W. 
has  nothing  to  fear  from  the  outside ;  it  can  only  be  de- 
stroyed from  the  inside,  and  its  proletarian  character 
makes  that  unlikely. 

200.  What  is  an  "intellectual"? 

This  term  is  applied  to  those  who  are  not  experienced 
as  wage  workers  and  who  attempt  to  play  a  more  or  less 
important  part  in  the  labor  movement.  This  term  should 
not  be  used  loosely  to  include  all  those  who  do  not  per- 
form manual  labor.  The  class-conscious  labor  movement 
is  a  target  for  all  kinds  of  so-called  "intellectuals." 
Preachers,  physicians,  college  men,  lawyers,  etc.,  are  the 
main  offenders.  They  are  usually  obsessed  with  the  idea 
that  they  are  born  leaders  of  the  workers.  They  seem  to 
feel  that  the  workers  will  "go  to  the  dogs"  unless  they  be 
allowed  to  control  the  workers'  destiny.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  "intellectuar'  is,  more  often  than  not,  a  nuis- 
sance  and  a  detriment  to  the  class-conscious  labor  move- 
ment. 

201.  When  was  the  I.  W.  W.  organized? 

In  Chicago,  June  27,  1905,  with  an  initial  membership 
of  somewhere  about  50,000. 

202.  Is  it  purely  economic  organization? 

Yes.  Originally  it  declared  for  political  as  well  as  ec- 
onomic action  by  the  workers,  but  at  the  fourth  conven- 
tion, (1908),  the  idea  of  political  action  was  discarded, 
and  the  I.  W.  W.  decided  to  devote  itself  exclusively 
to  industrial  action.  This  won  for  it  the  hostility  of  the 

69 


politicians.  In  fact,  it  has  succeeded  in  antagonizing 
every  anti-labor  and  psuedo  labor  element  in  society 
since  it  refused  to  be  a  breeding  groutid  for  fallacies. 

203.  What  are  its  principles? 

Its  basic  principle  is  recognition  of  the  class  struggle. 
Because  of  this  it  is  a  militant  labor  organization.  It  is 
attempting  to  organize  the  working  class  for  victory  over 
the  capitalist  class.  Its  preamble,  as  amended  by  the 
fourth  convention  and  endorsed  by  the  membership,  is: 

Preamble. 

The  v^orking  class  and  the  employing  class  have  noth- 
ing in  common.  There  can  be  no  peace  so  long  as  hunger 
and  want  are  found  among  millions  of  working  people 
and  the  few,  who  make  up  the  employing  class,  have 
all  the  good  things  of  life. 

Between  these  two  classes  a  struggle  must  go  on  ulitil 
the  workers  of  the  world  organize  as  a  class,  take  pos- 
session of  the  earth  and  the  machinery  of  production, 
and  abolish  the  wage  system. 

»We  find  that  the  centering  of  management  of  the  in- 
dustries into  fewer  and  fewer  hands  makes  the  trade 
unions  unable  to  cope  with  the  -ever  growing  power  of 
the  employing  class.  The  trade  unions  foster  a  state  of 
affairs  which  allows  one  set  of  workers  to  be  pitted 
against  another  set  of  workers  in  the  same  industry, 
thereby  helping  defeat  one  another  in  wage  wars.  More- 
over, the  trade  unions  aid  the  employing  class  to  mis- 
lead the  workers  into  the  belief  that  the  working  class 
have  interests  in  common  with  their  employers. 

These  conditions  can  be  changed  and  the  interest  of 
the  working  class  upheld  only  by  an  organization  formed 
in  such  a  way  that  all  its  members  in  any  one  industry, 
or  in  all  industries  if  necessary,  cease  work  whenever 
a  strike  or  lockout  is  on  in  any  department  thereof,  thus 
making  an  injury  to  one  an  injury  to  all. 

Instead  of  the  conservative  motto,  "A  fair  day's  wage 
for  a  fair  day's  work,"  we  must  inscribe  on  our  banner 
the  revolutionary  watchword,  "Abolition  of  the  wage 
system." 

It  is  the  historic  mission  of  the  working  class  to  do 
away  with  capitalism.  The  army  of  production  must  be 

70 


organized,  not  only  for  the  every-day  struggle  with  cap- 
italists, but  also  to  carry  on  production  when  capitalism 
shall  have  been  overthrown.  By  organizing  industrially 
we  are  forming  the  structure  of  the  new  society  within 
the  shell  of  the  old. 

204.  What  is  meant  by  "organizing  industrially?" 

Organizing  in  the  industries  as  wage  workers — econ- 
omically ■ —  not  politically.  The  I.  W.  W.  believes  the 
worker  as  wealth  producer  to  be  the  social  unit,  for 
society  cannot  exist  without  its  workers.  The  politician 
believes  the  citizen  to  be  the  social  unit.  Therefore,  the 
I.  W.  W.  relies  upon  the  workers,  organized  as  producers 
to  exert  greater  influence  industrially  that  is  possible 
to  them  as  citizens  in  capitalist  society.  That  is  what 
is  meant  when  the  preamble  states  "By  organizing  in- 
dustrially we  (the  working  class),  are  forming  the  struc- 
ture of  the  new  society  within  the  shell  of  the  old."  This 
denies  the  possibility  of  doing  so  by  political  action,  or 
by  any  other  means. 

205.  Explain  this  more  clearly? 

The  I.  W.  W.  seeks  to  organize  the  workers  in  all  the 
industries  into  one  organization.  But  this  is  not  a  mass 
organization.  It  proposes  to  follow  the  present  arrange- 
ment of  the  workers  in  production,  and  to  organize  them 
as  they  are  placed  in  industry.  It  does  not  ask  the 
worker  what  tool  he  uses,  or  what  operation  he  performs. 
It  only  asks  for  what  object  his  labor  power  is  expended. 
If  it  is  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  in  coal  production, 
it  classifies  him  as  a  coal  mine  worker  and  enrolls  him 
in  the  Coal  Mine  Workers'  Industrial  Union  No.  220.  If 
his  work  is  to  assist  railroading,  no  matter  what  the 
nature  of  his  task,  he  is  put  in  the  Railroad  Workers' 
Industrial  Union  No.  520.  So  with  any  worker  in  the 
textile  mill;  whether  he  be  an  engineer,  loom  fixer,  or 
janitor,  he  takes  his  place  in  the  Textile  Workers'  In- 
dustrial Union  No.  410;  and  so  on  until  the  whole  field 
of  working  class  activity  is  covered.  All  the  time  the 
I.  W.  W.  is  organizing,  it  is  educating  the  workers, 
giving  them  a  new  viewpoint,  filling  them  with  a  new 
consciousness.  When  its  organization  is  sufficiently  ex- 
tensive, trained  and  disciplined,  it  is  ready  to  take  over 
industry — because  it  has  prepared  the  workers  to  do  so. 

71 


206.  What  do  we  mean  by  an  industrial  union? 

All  the  workers,  all  over  the  world,  have  a  common 
interest  and  are  interdependent  —  the  workers  of  one 
country  upon  the  workers  of  all  other  countries.  So, 
likewise,  the  workers  in  one  industrial  calling  are  de- 
pendent upon  the  workers  in  all  the  other  callings  and 
these  other  workers  upon  them.  Yet,  in  industry,  na- 
tional and  international,  there  are  more  or  less  clearly 
defined  divisions  which  we  know  as  industries,  such  as 
coal  mining,  railroading,  lumbering,  farming,  steel,  manu- 
facturing, etc.  When  a  man  works  in  any  one  of  these 
industries  he  comes  into  more  intimate  contact  with 
his  associated  workers  than  he  does  with  the  balance  of 
the  working  class.  For  instance,  in  or  around  a  coal 
mine,  whatever  he  does  is  done  to  assist  in  bringing  the 
coal  deposit  to  some  convenient  place  from  which  it  can 
be  transported  to  where  it  is  needed.  Whether  he  be  an 
engineer,  machinist,  blacksmith,  miner,  driver,  loader, 
weighman,  bookkeeper, — whatever  he  doies — his  labor  fits 
in  with  that  of  all  the  other  workers  in  and  around  the 
mine,  and  the  objective  of  all  their  labors  is  to  get  the 
the  coal  in  a  convenient  place.  They  could  not  fulfill  this 
purpose  without  his  labor  classification,  nor  he  without 
theirs.  They  are  necessary  to  him  and  he  to  them;  they 
are  all  the  coal  mine  working  force.  The  I.  W.  W.  or- 
ganizes all  of  them  in  one  industrial  union. 

Now,  while  each  of  these  coal  workers  are  in  more  or 
less  personal  contact  with  each  other  in  the  process  of 
coal  production,  it  is  only  through  the  industry  as  a 
whole,  represented  by  the  product — coal — ^that  they 
come  into  contact  with  transportation  and  the  trans- 
portation workers.  The  I.  W.  W.  arranges  for  their 
contact,  co-ordination,  and  co-operation  in  its  general 
organization — the  working  class  organization.  By  thus 
organizing  the  workers  by  industries  and  uniting  them 
in  one  solid  organization,  you  can  see  how  the  I.  W.  W. 
is  forming  the  structure  of  the  new  society. 

207.  But  are  not  the  coal  miners  so  organized  now? 

No.  "All  is  not  gold  that  glitters,'*  and  every  organ- 
ization that  appears  to  be  is  not  an  industrial  union. 
Being  an  inclusive  union  in  the  industry  is  not  by  any 

72 


means  all  there  is  to  being  an  industrial  union.  Indus- 
trial unionism,  as  exemplified  in  the  I.  W.  W.,  means 
something  entirely  different  from  the  U.  M.  W.  of  A. 
The  U.  M.  W.  of  A.  reconciles  its  members  to  holding 
aloof  from  the  other  workers.  If  the  I.W.W.  organization 
held  a  commanding  position  in  industry,  when  the  mine 
workers  threw  down  their  tools  and  walked  out  of  the 
mines  on  April  1st  (1922),  that  hour  the  hauling  of  coal 
would  have  stopped.  The  operators  and  "the  public'' 
would  not  be  figuring  how  long  the  surplus  and  scab 
production  would  suffice.  The  strike  would  have  had  an 
entirely  different  aspect  from  the  first  day,  and,  in  all 
likelihood,  would  not  have  occurred  at  all.  It  would 
avail  nothing  to  mine  coal  in  scab  territory  for  no  train 
crew  would  haul  it. 

If  the  I.  W.  W.  was  in  the  coal  industry,  the  tonnage 
(piece-work)  system  of  mining  would  not  be  in  vogue. 
The  miners  would  be  spared  all  the  inconveniences  and 
controversy  growing  out  of  that  operators'  scheme.  Min- 
ers would  work  by  the  day.  There  would  be  no  check- 
off, for  the  miner  would  have  his  wages  Mthout  bother- 
ing about  dockage,  short  weight,  minimum  turn,  or  what 
not.  There  would  be  no  danger  of  "sell  outs"  in  negotia- 
tions, or  forced  arbitration,  for  a  united  working  class 
would  secure  justice  for  the  miners,  and  could  depend 
upon  the  miners  in  their  turn.  The  miners  °  constitute 
about  the  most  dependable  element  of  the  American 
working  class  and  it  would  be  strange  if  they  were  not 
the  first  to  see  the  light — and  soon.  The  U.  M.  W.  of  A. 
with  the  most  intelligent  and  largest  aggressive  minority 
in  the  American  organized  movement  is  not  an  industrial 
union.    More  is  the  pity. 

208.  Has  the  I.  W.  W.  conducted  any  strikes? 

Yes,  many.  In  1906  the  I.  W.  W.  established  an  eight 
hour  day  for  hotel  workers  in  Goldfield,  Nevada.  This 
town  had  the  first  universal  eight-hour  day  in  the  Utiited 
States  as  a  result  of  I.  W.  W.  activity,  and  a  minimum 
wage  of  $4.50  per  day  for  unskilled  labor. 

209.  Was  it  retained? 

Through  the  combined  forces  of  the  mine  operators, 
the  business  element  and  scabs  led  by  Grant  Hamilton, 


73 


general  organizer  for  the  A.  F.  of  L.,  the  established 
conditio'ns  were  lost.  The  treackery  of  the  general  offi- 
cers of  the  W.  F.  M.  was  a  factor  in  breaking  I.  W.  W. 
control  in  this  district,  and  degrading  the  conditions  of 
the  workers. 

210.  What  were  the  other  strikes? 

In  Skowhegan,  Me.,  three  thousand  workers  struck 
over  the  discharge  of  active  I.  W.  W.  men.  The  strike 
was  won  in  a  short  time,  though  the  A.  F.  of  L.  union  of 
United  Textile  Workers,  under  John  Golden,  tried  to 
break  it  by  furnishing  strike-breakers. 

Three  thousand  saw  mill  workers  in  Portland,  Ore., 
won  a  nine-hour  day  and  a  75-cent  increase  in  wages 
in  1906 

In  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  an  I.  W.  W.  strike  of  1,200  tube 
workers  was  scabbed  to  defeat  by  A.  F.  of  L.  u'nions. 

In  McKees  Rocks,  Pa.,  in  1909,  eight  thousand  em- 
ployes of  the  Pressed  Steel  Car  Company  struck  and  won 
all  their  demands  after  a  stubborn  contest  lasting  nearly 
three  months.  This  was  one  strike  where  the  Cossacks 
were  tamed. 

In  1912,  a  textile  workers'  strike  and  a  shoe  workers' 
strike  were  both  won  in,  Haverhill,  Mass. 

The  great  Lawrence  strike  (29,000  workers)  was  won 
despite  the  contemptible  and  traitorous  scabbing  tactics 
of  the  A.  F.  of  L.  unions.  New  Bedford  (13,000  work- 
ers). Little  Falls,  N.  Y.,  (about  1,500  workers).  United 
Textile  Workers  used  scabbing  tactics  here  also.  This 
strike  was  a  victory  (1913).  Lumber  Workers  (La.),  in 
1913;  Akron  Rubber  Workers'  strike  (22,000  workers). 
Lost  in  seven  weeks.  (1913).  Paterson  Silk  Mill  Workers' 
strike  (50,000).  A.  F.  of  L.  unions  tried  to  scab  but 
failed,  owing  to  the  feeling  of  the  workers  and  the  tho- 
rough picketing.  Result  was  a  compromise  settlement. 
One  thousand  I.  W.  W.  metal  workers  in  Toledo,  Ohio, 
won  a  strike  after  a  few  days.  I.  W.  W.  Garment 
Workers  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  lost  a  fourteen  weeks'  strike 
through  the  scabbing  tactics  of  the  A.  F.  of  L.  union  of 
United  Garment  Workers,  which  furnished  strike-break- 
ers. 

In  1916  the  Mesaba  Range  strike  of  iron  miners  took 
place.   This  strike  was  typically  handled  by  the  corpora- 

74 


tions  who  imported  large  forces  of  gunmen  thugs  whom 
complia'nt  sheriffs  deputized.  MANY  of  the  striker  pick- 
ets were  murdered  by  these  plug-uglies. 

A  shingle  weavers'  strike  the  same  year  in  Everett, 
Wash.,  requested  assistance  from  the  I.  W.  W.  The  mill 
owners  and  the(ir)  authorities  attempt  to  drive  all  I.  W. 
W.  members  from  the  city.  The  I.  W.  W.  answered  this 
challenge  by  chartering  a  steamboat.  When  this  boat 
was  docking  in  Everett,  the  sheriff,  who  was  drunk,  and 
a  large  force  of  gunmen  opened  fire  upon  the  passengers 
with  high  power  rifles.  Seven  of  the  passengers  were 
killed  and  many  wounded.  Just  imagine  what  followed 
— seventy-four  I.  W.  W.  members  were  indicted  for  this 
crime  of  a  drunke'n  sheriff  and  the  lumber  barons'  gun- 
men. They  were  acquitted,  but  the  sheriff  was  never 
punished. 

In  1917,  one  thousand  two  hundred  L  W.  W.  members 
were  deported  from  Bisbee,  Arizona,  in  connection  with 
the  copper  strike.  The  copper-collared  sheriff  was  sup- 
plied with  an  army  of  2,500  selected  ruffians.  A  federal 
commission  investigated  this  affair  but  no  one  has  ever 
been  punished  though  the  tactics  employed  were  brutal 
— one  of  the  I.  W.  W.  members  being  done  to  death. 

A  general  strike  of  the  lumber  workers  in  June  where 
genuine  I.  W.  W.  tactics  were  used.  The  general  strike 
was  continued  under  various  forms  —  irritation  strikes, 
striking  on  the  job,  individual  strikes,  striking  in  one 
camp  and  going  on  another  job,  and  all  the  time  working 
to  win  the  strike.  This  was  something  new  to  the  em- 
ployers, and  they  were  not  prepared  for  these  tactics. 
Consequently,  they  gave  up  the  struggle  and  the  eight 
hour  day,  wage  increase,  and  greatly  improved  condi- 
tions resulted. 

211.  What  is  a  craft  union? 

A  craft  union  is  a  union  of  workers  following  a  special 
trade.  Formerly,  a  craftsman,  taking  the  raw  material, 
worked  in  all  the  processes  required  to  complete  produc- 
tion of  the  finished  article.  At  that  time  a  long  appren- 
ticeship was  served,  and  was  necessary  in  order  that  the 
workers  in  the  craft  might  learn  how  to  perform  the 
work  accurately  and  expeditiously,  in  the  different  stages. 
These  workmen  formed  unions,  such  as  we  learned  about, 

75 


at  the  close  of  the  18th  and  the  beginning  of  the  19th  1 
century.  These  craftsmen  were  highly  skilled  workers,  1 
employing  hand  tools,  and  hence,  often  termed  handi-  j 
craftsmen.  ■ 

212.  Are  there  any  such  workmen  now?  I 

Very  few,  if  any.  Most  of  the  present  day  crafts  are 
no  more  than  sub-divisions  of  the  old  time  trades.  The 
mechanical  tool  displaces  skill  without  dispensing  with, 
it  so  far  as  the  production  of  commodities  is  concerned. 
That  is  to  say  that  the  individual  workman  does  not  re- 
quire that  versatility  of  skill  in  machine  production  which 
was  indispensable  to  the  handicraftsman.  The  machine 
changes  the  technique  in  industrial  operation  so  that  all- 
around  skillfulness,  while  unnecessary  to  any  workman, 
is  still  demanded  of  the  working  force.  In  order  to  reap 
the  full  advantages  of  machinery  preference  is  given  to 
workmen  in  the  various  processes  who  display  ingenuity 
in  machine  attendance  and  develop  a  knack  which  ope- 
rates a  machine  tool  at  its  approximate  capacity.  The  i 
skill,  formerly  the  possession  of  the  mechanic  which  en- 
abled him  to  perform  several  operations,  is  now  distri- 
buted so  that  the  skill  required  in  each  operation  is  the 
qualification  of  special  workmen.  Where  the  old  time 
trademan's  skill  consisted  of  a  series  of  knacks  gained 
from  long  experience,  the  skill  of  the  modern  workman 
in  machine  industry  may  be  confined  to  a  knack  in  one 
operation  gained  by  a  comparatively  short  experience. 
Today  we  have  many  skilled  workmen,  but  few  crafts- 
men. 

213.  How  would  skill  be  defined? 

That  depends.  .  .  If  the  skill  of  the  old  time  craftsman 
is  meant,  the  standard  by  which  skill  is  determined  might  | 
be  defined  thus:  Skill: — That  quality  in  workmanship 
which  enables  the  workman  to  surpass  the  average  un- 
trained worker  in  all  the  processes  necessary  to  trans- 
form the  raw  material  into  the  finished  product;  intimate 
knowledge  of,  and  a  facility  acquired  by  practice  in  the 
processes  required  for  the  production  of  a  particular 
thing ;  that  efl^cient  versatility  which  we  are  accustomed 
to  associate  with  the  handicraftsman  who  served  a  long 
apprenticeship. 

76 


Skill,  in  the  modern  sense,  applies  to  the  faculty  of 
doing  one  or  a  few  particular  things  exceptionally  well. 

214.  Does  not  that  imply  that  there  are  no  crafts  now? 

Strictly  speaking,  there  are  none.  We  speak  of  printers 
as  being  craftsmen,  but  it  is  a  long  step  back  to  the  time 
a'nd  condition  when  that  was  true.  The  work  of  the  old- 
time  printer  is  now  done  by  many  specialized  workmen. 
Where  he  did  everything  in  a  printing  plant,  now  a  num- 
ber of  specialists,  each  doing  a  particular  thing,  co-oper- 
ate to  perform  his  task.  This  holds  for  the  tailor,  shoe- 
maker, carpenter,  blacksmith,  etc.  The  tendency  is  to- 
ward the  sub-divisio'n  of  labor  and  simplification  of  pro- 
cesses, so  that  the  skilled  worker  of  a  period  of  long 
passed  development  is  unknown  and  unnecessary  to  mod- 
ern production.  As  has  been  said,  strictly  speaking,  there 
are  no  crafts,  and  it  follows,  as  day  follows  night,  that  a 
craft  union  is  a'n  anachronism  in  modern  industry.  As 
the  Industrial  Union  Manifesto  well  said:  ^'Laborers  are 
no  longer  classified  by  difference  in  trade  skill,  but  the 
employer  assigns  them  according  to  the  machines  to 
which  the  are  attached.  These  divisions,  far  from  repre- 
senting differences  hi  skill  or  interests  among  the  labor- 
ers, are  imposed  by  the  employer  that  workers  may  be 
pitted  against  one  another  ....  and  that  all  resistance  to 
capitalist  tyranny  may  be  weakened  by  artificial  dis- 
tinctions." 

215.  How  is  the  I.  W.  W.  constituted? 

The  I.  W.  W.  is  composed  of  Industrial  Unions,  Indus- 
trial Departments,  Industrial  District  Councils  and  Gen- 
eral Industrial  District  Councils.  Each  Industrial  Union 
has  branches  at  strategic  points  within  the  industry  and 
maintains  contact  with  the  members  through  the  job 
delegate  system. 

216.  What  is  an  Industrial  Department? 

Industrial  Unions  of  closely  allied  industries  are 
combined  into  departmental  organizations.  For  example, 
the  Marine  Transport  Workers'  Industrial  Unions  refer- 
red to  above,  would  be  united  with  Railway  or  Steam 
Transportation  Industrial  Unions,  Municipal  Transporta- 
tion Industrial  Unions,  Motor  Transporters,  and  Aviators' 
Unions,  into  the  "Department  of  Transportation  and 
Communication." 


77 


The  Industrial  Departments  are  combined  into 
the  General  Organization,  which,  in  turn,  is  to  be  an  in- 
tegral part  of  a  like  International  Organization;  and 
through  the  international  organization  establish  solidar- 
ity and  co-operation  between  the  workers  of  all  countries. 

217.  What  is  an  Induatrial  District  Council? 

Organization  is  of  first  importance  in  the  I.  W.  W. 
It  is  not  enough  that  the  workers  are  class-conscious. 
They  must  be  organized.  Industrial  district  councils  are 
composed  of  delegates  from  all  the  shop  or  job  branches 
of  one  industry  within  a  given  district.  It  aims  to  pro- 
mote u'nity  of  thought  and  action  within  the  district. 

218.  What  is  a  General  Industrial  District  Council? 

To  achieve  general  solidarity  among  the  workers  in  a 
given  district,  two  or  more  industrial  unions  elect  dele- 
gates to  form  a  general  industrial  district  council.  Its 
function  is  to  keep  the  different  Industrial  unions  of  the 
district  in  touch  with  each  other  and  to  transact  all  busi- 
ness pertaining  to  the  general  welfare  of  the  workers  in 
the  district. 

219.  Is  there  anything  corresponding  to  the  General  Industrial 
District  Council  of  the  I.  W.  W.  in  the  A.  F.  of  L.  ?  | 

Not  exactly.  The  A.  F.  of  L.  central  labor  unions  most 
nearly  resemble  it.  Their  bodies,  however,  being  com- 
posed of  representatives  of  craft  unions,  can'not  be  as 
truly  representative  of  the  workers  in  a  given  locality 
as  would  a  body  representing  the  workers  in  the  indus- 
try as  working  forces.  Moreover,  the  geography  of  the 
A.  F.  of  L.  is  political,  while  the  geography  of  the 
I.  W.  W.  is  economic.  A  central  body  in  the  A.  F.  of  L. 
is  concerned  about  the  political  management  of  the  mu- 
nicipality, whereas  an  I.  W.  W.  central  organization 
would  use  the  economic  power  of  its  constituent  unions 
to  improve  the  status  of  labor.  |  The  A.  F.  of  L.  central 
bodies  wait  upon  the  political  management  and  e'ndeavor 
to  secure  through  petition  and  political  influences  the  j 
desired  changes.  The  A.  F.  of  L.  central  bodies  have 
no  economic  power  unless  they  usurp  it.  The  autonomy 
of  the  affiliated  unions  denies  a'ny  power  to  the  central 
labor  unions.  The  A.  F.  of  L.  central  bodies  mediate 
between  employers  and  crafts  having  grievances.    No  i 

78 


boycott  by  a  dissatisfied  union  can  become  binding  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  central  bodies.  These  simply  con- 
stitute local  parliaments  of  labor  with  o'nly  the  privilege 
of  recommendation  but  without  the  power  of  enforce- 
ment. The  State  Federations  of  Labor,  likewise,  geo- 
graphically are  political  divisions,  which  try  to  influence 
legislation  in  the  state  legislatures,  but  are  without  any 
economic  authority.  Both  the  central  labor  u*nions  and 
the  State  Federations  organize  unorganized  employ- 
ments. Generally  the  organizing  work  of  these  bodies 
is  negligible. 

220.  Do  the  city  and  town  workers  generally  understand  the 
limitations  of  these  A.  F.  of  L.  subordinate  bodies? 

Not  generally.  It  frequently  happens  that  craft  unions 
with  grievances  expect  the  industrial  support  of  the  cen- 
tral labor  union,  and  are  much  puzzled  when  denied  it. 
We  have  heard  it  asked  many  times  what  a  central  union 
was  for,  if  a  u'nion  in  difficulties  could  not  count  upon  it 
for  industrial  support.  We  have  also  seen  central  labor 
unions  disintegrate  in  times  of  industrial  strife  because 
they  proved  a  disappointment  to  the  workers  belonging 
to  the  affiliated  unio'ns,  who  felt  that  the  central  body 
was  a  local  body  to  achieve  industrial  unity  of  its  affi- 
liations. The  workers  can  think  only  in  terms  of  in- 
dustry, and  politics  has  no  appeal  to  him.  While  the 
central  bodies  do  not  serve  labor  in  an  industrial  way, 
while  they  hinder  advancement  through  industrial  action, 
they  are  the  one  valuable  feature  of  the  craft  union  sys- 
tem. They  are  training  schools  in  what  labor  must  avoid, 
a'nd  out  of  them  have  graduated  most  of  the  exponents 
of  real  unionism,  many  of  whom  have  severed  relations 
with  the  A.  F.  of  L.  through  disgust  and  in  recognition 
of  its  capitalistic  character. 

221.  Could  not  the  same  thing  happen  in  the  L  W.  W.? 

It  could  if  capitalist  ideas  dominated  its  cou'ncils.  But 
the  first  concern  of  the  I.  W.  W.  is  the  education  of  the 
workers  in  the  economics  of  capitalist  production  and 
what  are  known  as  "the  class  struggle  sciences.'*  A 
rank  and  file  grounded  in  these,  will  make  it  difficult  to 
impose  fallacies  upon  and  to  mislead  them.  The  I.  W.  W. 
in  its  seventeen  years  has  spread  more  sound  literature 
among  the  workers,  out  of  its  small  treasuries,  than  has 

79 


the  A.  F.  of  L.  in  more  than  forty  years.  The  I.  W.  W. 
is  safeguarding  the  worker  with  educatio'n. 

222.  What  is  a  job  delegate? 

A  job  delegate  is  an  organizer  in  tlie  I.  W.  W.  Any 
qualified  member  in  good  standing  may  become  a  job 
delegate.  To  become  a  job  delegate  a  member  fills  out 
an  application  for  credentials  and  sends  it  to  his  indus- 
trial union  secretary.  He  will  receive  credentials  and 
supplies.  He  is  then  authorized  to  initiate  any  wage 
worker  into  the  I.  W.  W. 

The  job  delegate  system  is  the  product,  a'nd  typical 
of  militant  industrial  unionism.  It  is  an  efficient  way 
of  organizing. 

223.  How  does  a  job  delegate  function? 

Job  delegates  in  the  I.  W.  W.  perform  the  same  func- 
tion as  paid  organizers  do  in  other  unio'ns;  they  secure 
new  members.  After  receiving  credentials  and  supplies 
they  begin  operations.  The  supplies  colnsist  of  member- 
ship cards,  dues  stamps,  voluntary  assessment  stamps, 
and  I.  W.  W.  literature. 

The  job  delegate  will  explain  the  principles  a'nd  pro- 
gram to  all  workers  he  comes  in  contact  with.  He  will 
sell  and  distribute  literature.  He  agitates  on  the  job, 
and  initiates  new  members  there.  He  talks  to  the  work- 
ers while  at  work,  at  noon  time,  and  after  work.  He 
will  visit  the  workers  in  their  homes.  He  never  loses  an 
opportunity  of  agitating  for  the  I.  W.  W. 

The  job  delegate  tiot  only  secures  new  members,  but 
affixes  dues  stamps  in  the  books  of  old  members.  He 
performs  the  work  of  a  branch  secretary  on  the  job. 
Job  delegates  do  not  receive  wages  for  their  organizing 
efforts.  Delegates  must  make  reports  to  their  industrial 
union  every  week. 

224.  What  is  a  traveling  delegate?  j 

Traveling  delegates  carry  large  amounts  of  supplies. 
They  travel  through  the  harvest  fields  and  industrial 
districts  supplying  the  job  delegates  with  membership 
cards,  dues  stamps  and  literature.  They,  also,  are  auth- 
orized to  enlist  members  in  the  I.  W.  W.  They  are,  as 
a  rule,  members  of  the  General  Organization  Committee 
of  the  industrial  union.   They  make  surveys  of  industrial 


80 


conditions  and  inform  their  general  office.  They  are  the 
field  representatives  of  the  industrial  union. 

225.  What  is  a  stationary  delegate? 

Stationary  delegates  are  placed  at  strategic  points  by 
their  industrial  unions.  In  the  Marine  Transport  Work- 
ers' I.  U.  No.  520,  they  are  known  as  "Port  Delegates." 
The  office  of  the  stationary  delegate  is  the  base  of  opera- 
tion for  traveling  and  job  delegates.  Their  offices  usual- 
ly are  located  at  the  gateways  to  the  harvest  fields  and 
industrial  centers.  They  are  recruiting  stations  for  migra- 
tory and  stationary  workers.  The  stationary  delegate 
makes  regular  reports  to  his  industrial  union  headquar- 
ters. The  report  will  be  comprehensive,  giving  much 
valuable  industrial  data  to  the  general  secretary  and  the 
officers  of  the  industrial  union  stationed  at  headquarters. 

226.  How  about  initiation  fees  and  dues  in  the  I.  W.  W.  ? 

As  the  I.  W.  W.  wants  the  workers  to  organize,  it 
makes  it  as  easy  as  possible  for  them  to  do  so.  So  it  in- 
clines to  make  initiation  fees  and  dues  as  low  as  possible. 
The  initiation  fee  is  $2.00  and  the  dues  are  50  cents  per 
month.  Contrast  this  witR  the  A.  F.  of  L.  unio'ns,  some 
of  which  charge  several  hundred  dollars  as  an  initiation 
fee.  Evidently,  unions  which  charge  high  initiation  fees 
do  so  to  keep  workers  out  of  the  unions,  and  the  pur- 
pose of  high  initiation  fees  is  to  keep  men  out.  That  is 
why  the  craft  unions  are  called  job  trusts. 

227.  Does  each  Industrial  Union  demand  an  initiation  fee? 

No.  A  member  of  the  I.  W.  W.  is  called  upon  to 
pay  only  one  initiation  fee.  Once  a  worker  joins  the 
I.  W.  W.  and  becomes  a  member  of  one  industrial 
union,  whenever  he  charges  his  occupation  he  auto- 
matically becomes  a  member  of  the  industrial  union 
in  his  new  occupation  upon  presentation  of  his  union 
card.  Once  a  union  ma'n  in  the  I.  W.  W.,  always  a 
union  man,  unless  he  violates  the  laws  of  the  union. 
In  the  craft  union  system  whenever  a  man  cha'nges  his 
occupation  from  one  industrial  calling  to  some  other 
calling,  he  is  required  to  pay  a  new  initiation  fee. 
If  he  refuses  to  be  bled,  or  has  not  the  price,  a 
long  and  distinguished  union  career  will  not  help  him. 
He'  must  pay.  He  can  have  a  whole  album  full  of  union 


81 


cards,  they  will  not  help  him.  He  must  take  out  a  new 
union  card.  It  might  be  stated  thus:  When  a  man  joins 
an  industrial  union  he  joins  the  I.  W.  W. ;  when  a  man 
joins  an  A.  F.  of  L.  union,  he  does  not  join  the  A.  F.  of  L., 
for  the  A.  F.  of  L.  has  no  economic  existence.  He  joins 
the  plumbers'  union.  But  when  he  changes  his  occu- 
pation he  must  join  another  union.  The  policy  of  the 
craft  union  is  to  keep  them  out,  or  get  their  money. 
The  policy  of  the  I.  W.  W.  is  to  get  them  in  the  u'nion ; 
never  mind  the  money,  if  they  have  a  paid  up  card  in 
any  union.  The  I.  W.  W.  depends  upon  the  industrial 
power  of  the  workers.  Other  unions  depend  upon  fin- 
ance. The  I.  W.  W.  wa'nts  all  the  workers.  Other  unions 
only  want  the  select  few. 

228.  Is  the  I.  W.  W.  a  secret  organization? 

.  The  I.  W.  W.  is  not  a  secret  organization.  It  never 
holds  secret  meetings.  It  has  no  passwords,  secret  signs, 
or  other  tomfoolery.  All  meetings  are  wide  open.  The 
I.  W.  W.  holds  that  it  can  be  more  effective  as  an  open 
organization  than  as  a  secret  one.  Underground  move- 
ments cannot  hope  to  be  effective  as  working  class  or- 
ganizations in  this  couiitry.  Secret  organizations  of  la- 
bor are  breeding  places  for  spies.  It  would  be  impos- 
sible to  have  a  labor  union  broad  enough  to  include  all 
wage  workers  and  maintain  secret  rules,  program  and 
aims.  Since  the  I.  W.  W.  is  not  plotting  to  capture  the 
political  state,  but  is  organizing  to  control  industry,  it 
is  not  necessary  or  good  to  deliberate  in  secret. 

229.  What  workers  can  join  the  I.  W.  W.? 

All  wage  workers  are  eligible  to  membership  in  the 
I.  W.  W.  It  seeks  to  organize  every  wage  worker  in 
industry.  The  position  or  wage  is  not  taken  into  con- 
sideration. Clerical  workers,  technicians,  teachers,  en- 
gineers, etc.,  can  join  the  I.  W.  W.,  provided  they  work 
for  wages. 

The  term  "brain  worker"  is  used  to  draw  lines  in  the 
working  class  and  should  be  avoided.  It  is  an  aim  of  the 
I.  W.  W.  to  bring  about  solidarity  among  the  workers, 
and  all  terms  suggesting  division  are  taboo. 

230.  What  is  solidarity? 

The  term  is  used  to  denote  the  common  interest,  fel- 
lowship, aims  and  action  of  the  working  class.  It  means 

82 


an  entire  consolidation  of  interest,  responsibilities,  and 
aims  of  those  in  a  common  condition  or  situation,  and 
the  organization  of  those  so  conditioned  or  situated  to 
conserve  their  common  interest,  bear  their  collective  res- 
ponsibilities, and  to  achieve  their  common  aim. 

Industrial  unionism  is  the  only  medium  through  which 
industrial  solidarity  can  be  achieved.  "An  injury  to  one 
is  an  injury  to  alF'  is  the  best  expression  of  the  spirit 
of  solidarity. 

231.  What  is  syndicalism? 

In  Europe,  syndicalism  means  unionism.  In  the  United 
States  the  word  is  so  lost  in  a  maze  of  misunderstanding 
as  to  mea'n  almost  anything.  State  legislators,  at  the 
instigation  of  employers  and  aided  by  the  press,  have  so 
perverted  and  misrepresented  syndicalism  that  most  peo- 
ple believe  it  to  be  a  criminal  and  iniquitous  conspiracy. 
Syndicalism  is  derived  from  the  French  word  syndicate, 
meaning  a  local  trade  union.  In  France  the  labor  union 
movement  has  two  wings — radicals  and  conservatives. 
To  distinguish  themselves  from  the  conservatives,  the 
radicals  call  themselves  "revolutionary  syndicalists.'* 
When  the  I.  W.  W.  began  to  assume  power  in  this 
country,  the  phrase-mongering  apologists  for  the  capital- 
ist system  attacked  it  most  bitterly.  To  create  a  prejudice 
against  it,  they  called  it  an  importation — syndicalism 
from  Europe.  The  name  so  attached  itself  to  the  or- 
ganization that  well-meaning  "historians''  have  called 
the  I.  W.  W.  the  syndicalist  movement  of  America.  The 
I.  W.  W.  and  the  syndicalist  movements  of  Europe  differ 
widely  in  many  respects.  The  I.  W.  W.  is  not  a  by- 
product of  the  syndicalist  movement;  it  is  a  purely 
revolutionary  industrial  unionism.  The  I.  W.  W.  is 
really  the  first  international  of  labor.  Its  philosophy, 
structure  and  aim  mark  it  as  the  foundation,  and  the 
only  foundation  upon  which  international  unity  of  the 
world's  workers  can  be  upreared. 

232.  What  is  "criminal  syndicalism"  ? 

If  the  law  makers  of  this  cou'ntry  were  compelled  to 
write  their  laws  in  English  there  would  be  no  such  phrase 
as  "criminal  syndicalism."  Syndicalism  is  a  French  word 
meaning  unionism.  It  would  not  be  good  politics  to  place 
on  the  statute  books  Criminal  Unionism  laws;  so  the  law 

83 


makers  have  coined  the  phrase  "criminal  syndicalism." 

Several  states  have  passed  laws  against  "criminal  syn- 
dicalism.'*  It  is  untruthfully  and  maliciously  defined 
as  a  doctrine  advocating  violence,  terrorism  and 
crime  to  effect  political  and  industrial  changes. 
There  is  no  union  on  the  American  continent  advocat- 
ing violence,  terrorism,  or  crime,  so,  therefore  there 
is  no  "criminal  syndicalism/'  The  law  were  passed 
for  the  obvious,  but  underhanded,  purpose  of  attacking 
unionism.  The  law  makers  did  not  have  the  courage  to 
call  their  laws  "criminal  unionism." 

233.  What  law  of  nature  supplies  the  incentive  to  organize 
unions? 

The  law  of  mutual  aid. 

234.  What  is  the  law  of  mutual  aid? 

Mutual  aid  is  a  fundamental  law  of  nature  that  causes 
animals  to  band  together  for  self-protection. 

235.  What  is  the  highest  human  expression  of  the  law  of 
mutual  aid? 

The  principles  a'nd  program  of  the  I.  W.  W.  are  the 
highest  expressions  of  mutual  aid,  because  they  embody 
the  idea  of  mutual  protection  and  advancement  for  the 
greatest  number  of  human  beings. 

Mutual  aid  prompts  man  to  give  and  receive  help  from 
his  fellow  workers.  It  is  the  instinct  for  solidarity  and 
self  protection  that  causes  workers  to  organize  labor 
unions.  Mutual  aid  is  expressed  in  many  ways.  It  is 
mutual  aid  that  causes  employers  to  form  organiza- 
tions. The  secret  societies  are  expressions  of  mutual  aid. 
Among  the  lower  animals  mutual  aid  is  practiced.  Deer 
and  wolves  band  together  for  mutual  aid.  Bees  and  ants 
practice  mutual  aid  to  a  great  extent.  It  is  not  the  love 
for  a  fellow  being  that  causes  man  to  aid  one  in  distress, 
but  the  instinct  of  mutual  aid.  In  winter,  animals  will 
huddle  together  to  keep  warm.  It  is  not  the  love  of  the 
herd  that  causes  a  sheep  to  run  with  it,  but  the  instinct 
of  mutual  aid.  A  puppy  does  not  cuddle  close  to  the 
other  puppies  to  keep  them  warm,  but  to  keep  himself 
warm.  It  is  mutual  aid.  Workers  do  not  organize 
unions  because  they  love  each  other,  but  because  thru 
organization  they  are  enabled  to  get  more  of  the  good 
things  of  life. 

84 


IN  CONCLUSION 


Students  will  be  impressed  that  from  the  advent  of  unionism 
in  the  United  States  there  have  been  attempts  to  fasten  political 
parties  upon  the  economic  organizations  of  labor.  The  idea  that 
politics  offer  a  field  for  resultful  labor  activity  is  hard  to  dis- 
pel, notwithstanding  that  all  the  past  experiences  of  organized 
labor  in  America  go  to  show  its  ineffectiveness  where  the  work- 
ing class  interest  is  concerned. 

From  the  second  decade  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,  the 
record  shows  that  political  action  by  labor  has  been  the  in- 
strumentality by  which  promising  labor  movements  have  been 
done  to  death.  Political  parties  of  labor  have  sapped  the  eco- 
•nomic  organizations  of  their  vitality  and  kept  the  labor  move- 
ment marking  time  when  it  should  have  been  marching  for- 
ward. Politicians  today  may  ''point  with  pride''  to  past  po- 
litical activities  of  the  organized  workers  in  America,  but  they 
fail  to  note,  or  at  least  do  not  draw  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  rise  of  the  political  idea  has  always  marked  and  been  in 
proportion  to  the  decline  of  economic  effectiveness. 

Every  now  and  again  movements  aiming  to  provide 
American  labor  with  a  national  expression  were  foundered 
upon  the  reef  of  labor  politics.  We  find  here,  and  there,  on 
different  occasions,  representative  bodies  of  labor  protesting, 
because  of  previous  experiences,  against  the  commitment  of 
organizations  to  political  action.  Nevertheless,  down  even  to 
this  day,  the  conception  of  the  organized  workers  as  a  political 
force  has  survived;  that  unions  can  function  effectively  in  more 
than  one  capacity.  Though  the  past  of  American  labor  proves 
beyond  cavil  or  doubt  that  the  introduction  of  political  action 
exerts  a  disruptive  and  paralyzing  influence  upon  unions  in 
their  economic  functions,  there  are  still  those  who,  perhaps 
because  they  have  not  understandingly  analyzed  the  past,  main- 
tain that  political  action  is  a  proper  and  legitimate  function  of 
a  labor  union. 

The  interference  of  the  state  in  disputes  affecting  the  rela- 
tionship of  employer  and  employe,  upon  the  side  of  the  employ- 
ing interests,  tends  to  mislead  those  who  do  not  see  beneath  the 
surface  of  things  into  the  belief  that  through  the  voting  power 
of  the  workers  the  character  of  the  state  can  be  changed.  To 
believe  this  is  to  misunderstand  the  state,  which  is  the  instru- 

85 


ment  by  and  through  which  the  ruling  class  endeavors  to  main- 
tain and  perpetuate  the  relationship  between  the  capitalist  class 
and  the  working  class — ^a  slave  relationship. 

The  capitalist  state  f u'nctions  for  the  ruling  class  in  modern 
society  just  as  the  state  functioned  for  the  ruling  classes  in  chat- 
tel slave  and  feudal  times^ — ^to  preserve  an  industrial  relation- 
ship by^  which  the  fruits  of  the  labor  of  one  class  are  the 
property  of  another  class.  The  ownership  of  socially  essential 
things — resources  a'nd  means  of  production  is  guaranteed  by 
the  state  and  the  social  relationship  growing  out  of  that  owner- 
ship is  a  concomitant  which  the  state  is  designed  to  preserve. 

The  United  States,  more  plainly  than  any  other  modem 
country,  shows  the  state  to  be  not  only  the  means  by  which 
the  existing  class  relationship  is  maintained,  but  the  very  means 
by  which  the  ownership  out  of  which  it  grows  was  instituted. 
Railroad  grants,  timber,  mineral  and  oil  steals  plainly  demon- 
strate that  government  (the  State)  has  been  the  instrument  by 
which  the  capitalist  class  has  risen  to  power  and  the  working 
class  has  been  reduced  to  its  present  plight  in  the  United  States. 

Government  has  always  been  a  disguise  under  which  ac- 
quisitive predatory  powers  moved  for  the  conquest  of  socially 
necessary  things  and  by  which  they  held  the  producers  of  the 
United  States  and  other  countries  in  subjection.  This  owner- 
ship and  the  class  relationship,  the  state  will  array  all  the 
powers  at  its  command  to  defend  and  to  continue  Indefinitely. 
That,  primarily,  is  its  function.  It  is  a  social  instrument  only 
in  the  sense  and  where  a  slave  relationship  exists  within  a 
society,  or  a  social  division.  The  capitalist  state,  like  its  chattel 
slave  and  feudal  prototypes,  is  the  social  instrumentality  by 
which  a  ruling  class  is  enabled  to  control  the  labor  power  of 
the  working  class,  and  as  a  consequence,  the  products  result- 
ing from  the  expenditure  of  that  labor  power. 

The  acts  of  the  legislative  bodies,  the  decisions  of  the  courts, 
the  use  of  repressive  forces  by  executives,  the  control  of  the  edu- 
cational system,  all  manifest  class  hostility  and  all  tend  to  ''keep 
the  working  class  in  its  place."  Yet,  the  whole  superstructure 
of  modem  society  is  upr eared  and  rests  upon  the  working  class. 
To  exist  and  to  progress  capitalist  society  must  control  the  labor 
power  of  the  working  class.  It  must,  and  it  will,  use  any  means 
or  any  weapon  which  will  assist  it  in  achieving  this  end.  Po- 
litical pretensions  only  conceal  industrial  ambitions.  The  im- 


86 


portant  thing,  therefore,  for  the  workers  to  recognize,  is  the 
industrial  character  of  our  society,  and  the  true  nature  of  the 
state. 

When  they  do,  they  will  direct  their  energies  against  the 
wage  relationship  and  offer  battle  to  the  masters  of  society 
where  these  are  least  qualified  to  offer  resistance — hi  the  in- 
dustries. There  the  workers  are  masters  when  they  under- 
stand their  position  and  realize  their  power.  With  this  con- 
ception there  must  develop  the  recognition  that  with  an  in- 
strument which  will  enable  them  to  co'ntrol  their  labor  power, 
they  can  successfully  resist  aggression,  and  change  their  pres- 
ent status. 

With  the  state  the  workers  need  not  concern  themselves 
except  to  recognize  its  class  character  and  f  unctio'n.  To  scheme 
for  concessions  and  favors  from  it,  as  an  institution,  is  to 
cherish  a  delusion.  To  construct  and  develop  an  instrume'n- 
tality  by  which  the  workers  in  the  industries  can  assert  and 
advance  their  interest  as  social  factors  against  their  employer 
is  to  have  generated  a  power  that  will  compel  the  state  to 
modify  its  programs  and  co'nduct  so  as  to  accord  with  the 
changes  which  the  workers  will  force  in  this  relationship  to 
the  employers.  As  the  organized  proletariat  advances  in  the 
control  of  labor  power,  the  prestige  of  the  capitalist  class  de- 
clines and  the  state  as  a  repressive  power  is  weakened  corre- 
spondingly. The  workers  need  iiot,  and  indeed  should  not  di- 
rect their  efforts  against  the  state  but  against  the  wage  rela- 
tionship of  which  it  is  the  guardian,  custodian  and  defender. 

The  right  to  strive  for  shorter  hours,  higher  wages  and  bet- 
ter conditions — modifying  the  class  relationship-^ — is  acknowl- 
edged, even  in  capitalist  circles,  as  a  legitimate  ambition  and 
eflFort  of  the  workers.  Such  readjustment  as  will  presently 
lessen  and  ultimately  eliminate  unemployment  is  also  admitted 
as  a  worthy  endeavor  of  the  workers.  The  social  character  of 
labor  is  the  point  that  a  real  working  class  movement  must 
stress,  and  the  social  importance  of  the  points  for  which  the 
organized  workers  contend,  in  their  demands,  is  the  logical  and 
successful  way  for  a  union  movement  to  make  progress.  This 
is  the  way  of  revolutionary  preparation..  For,  as  working  class 
organization  extends,  its  influence  is  felt  socially.  That  influ- 
ence is  necessarily  beneflcal  and  advantageous.  A  genuine 
labor  movement  is  constructive,  and  social  construction,  or  re- 
construction, is  predicated  upon  industry  and  the  social  indus- 
trial relationship. 

87 


Moreover,  as  the  class  organization  grows,  in  corresponding 
measure  does  class  consciousness  develop.  And,  as  this  class 
conscious  feeling  spreads,  the  source  upo'n  which  the  state  de- 
pends for  its  repressive  forces  dries  up.  The  bayonets  of  its 
soldiers  and  the  clubs  of  its  policemen  are  wielded  by  those  who 
were  lately  of  the  working  class,  and  who  upon  dismissal  or 
resignation  will  return  to  that  class  and  face  its  problems  with 
the  rest  of  us. 

It  must  be  the  effort  of  the  workers  to  remove  every  ob- 
stacle to  solidarity.  The  rivalry  of  antagonistic  groups  must 
give  way  to  co-operation.  Division  in  the  ranks  of  labor  is  the 
objective  desired  by  the  capitalist  class.  Labor  when  divided 
is  weak  and  powerless.  The  one  reliable  source  of  labor's 
power  lies  in  its  control  over  the  means  of  production — the 
vitals  of  society.  This  power  inheres  in  the  worker  as  producer. 
It  can  be  organized  effectively  in  no  other  capacity.  It  cannot 
be  organized  politically.  Economic  organization  by  the  work- 
ers will  produce  economic  changes,  and,  in  the  very  nature  of 
things,  the  state  will  accommodate  itself  to  the  modified  ar- 
rangement. Actual  changes  in  the  wage  relationship  will  com- 
pel political  changes  while  rule  by  the  capitalist  class  obtains. 
The  political  records  of  these  changes  will  mark  the  transition 
from  political  government,  by  and  in  the  interest  of  a  class, 
to  an  economic  administration,  by  and  in  the  interest  of  a 
workers*  society. 

By  organizing  industrially  the  workers  will  form  the  struc- 
ture of  a  new  society  within  the  shell  of  the  old,  a'nd  prepare 
for  the  change  which  will  revolutionize  social  conceptions, 
forms  and  methods.  The  worker  as  worker — producer — ^alone 
can  carry  out  the  historical  social  process. 

Politics  is  the  temptation  of  careerists.  It  may  offer  a  fu- 
ture to  some  of  them,  but  only  at  the  expense  of  that  under- 
standing at  which  labor  must  arrive.  The  great  duty  of  the 
present  is  economic  organization  along  class  lines,  guided  by 
the  conception  that  labor  is  the  important  social  factor.  With 
the  growth  of  such  a  movement — labor  will  progress  to  a 
better  state  of  society,  where  new  problems  will  be  met  squarely 
with  social  understanding  undimmed  by  class  antagonism;  and 
will  be  solved  upon  the  basis  of  common  benefit.  Let  us  pre- 
pare for  the  next  step — build  up  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the 
World. 

*     *  * 


88 


You  have  read  the  pages  of  this  catechism.  You  have  learned 
how  the  craft  union  system  grew  on  the  ruins  of  the  Knights  of 
Labor,  how  it  provided  good  livings  for  the  officials  of  the  craft 
unions,  not  to  mention  banks  and  mines  and  farms  and  office 
buildings.  You  are  yourself  a  constant  reminder  of  its  failure  to 
provide  you  with  all  that  you  desire.  You  are  yourself,  as  this 
pamphlet  is  published,  witnessing  how  the  ebb  and  flow  of  econo- 
mic laws,  decide  your  wages  and  working  conditions  for  you.  You 
have  seen  and  can  see,  for  yourself,  how  markets,  panics,  ''good 
business"  eras,  and  ''hard  times''  whip  you  about  like  a  straw  in 
the  wind,  from  work  and  temporary  security,  to  unemployment 
and  starvation,  without  your  craft  union  or  your  insurance  asso- 
ciation, whichever  it  should  properly  be  called,  being  able  to  solve 
your  problems. 

In  the  summer  of  1923,  as  this  pamphlet  issues  from  the  presses 
of  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World,  a  series  of  great  craft 
strikes  has  failed.  The  Railroad  strike  has  broken  down  after 
months  of  struggle.  The  few  roads  on  which  the  battle  still 
(theoretically^  drags  along,  are  operating  more  and  more  efficient- 
ly with  scabs,  organized  into  company  unions  in  most  cases.  The 
old  Grand  Chief  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Railway  Engineers  has  be- 
come a  great  banker,  and  mine  owner,  and  finds  himself  an  ex- 
ploiter of  Labor.  He  is  widely  quoted  in  the  capitalist  press  as 
registering  his  undying  disapproval  of  any  general  railroad  strike. 
"It  is  loaded  with  dynamite,"  he  says,  "for  the  public,  for  the  em- 
ployers, and  for  us".  (Us  evidently  meaning  the  bureaucracy  of 
the  Railway  Brotherhoods,  which  might  lose  some  of  its  mines  and 
banks,  if  a  general  strike  took  place. 

As  this  is  written,  the  coal  miners  are  writhing  in  their  real- 
ization of  the  fact  that  they  have  been  sold  out  in  the  Cleveland 
agreement.  A  portion  of  the  Rosslyn  Cle-Elum  fields  in  Washing- 
ton is  operating  under  a  company  union,  which  includes  in  its 
preamble  a  statement  that  the  interests  of  Capital  and  Labor  are 
identical,  that  the  union  shall  be  controlled  by  a  board  on  which 
the  Employers  have  a  majority  of  votes,  and  that  no  member 
shall  belong  to  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America,  nor  shall  any 
person  who  does  belong  to  the  A.  F.  of  L.  be  employed  in  the 
mines.  In  Kentucky,  an  over-lapping  contract  has  been  signed, 
by  which  one  group,  one  district  of  coal  miners,  binds  itself  to 
remain  at  work  while  the  rest  of  the  union  goes  on  strike,  if  it 
is  able  to  once  more  resist  intolerable  conditions  by  the  strike. 


89 


In  the  marine  transport  industry,  we  find  the  old  "leader", 
Andrew  Furuseth,  urging  his  seamen  to  sling  cargo,  and  his  fire- 
men to  make  steam  for  winches  in  order  to  break  the  strike  of 
longshoremen,  including  A.  F.  of  L.  longshoremen,  at  Portland 
and  San  Pedro. 

In  the  oil  fields  of  Southern  California,  we  find  regularly  elected 
officials  of  the  A.  F.  of  L.  oil  workers  union  deliberately  urging 
that  members  who  belong  to  another  union  than  theirs — men  who 
adhere  to  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World — be  jailed  for  from 
one  to  fourteen  years.  We  find  them  urging  their  following  to 
act  as  stool  pigeons,  and  to  point  out  to  the  brutal  authorities, 
representing  capitalism,  all  members  of  the  I.  W.  W.,  to  the 
end  that  those  who  will  not  pay  tribute  to  the  job  trust  of  the 
A.  F.  of  L.  shall  be  buried  in  dungeons  of  San  Quentin. 

In  the  summer  of  1923,  the  Capitalist  Class  of  America  is  treat- 
ing you  as  well  as  it  ever  treats  its  slaves.  It  is  filling  the  boards 
of  the  employment  offices  with  jobs,  at  what  seems  to  the  man  long 
unemployed,  to  be  reasonable,  "living"  wages.  If  this  announce- 
ment comes  to  you  while  business  is  still  good,  you  should  not  con- 
ceal from  yourselves  the  fact  that  this  condition  is  temporary,  that 
just  as  panics  have  succeeded  "boom"  periods  in  the  past,  so  de- 
pression, and  lack  of  work  will  haunt  you  in  the  future,  the  near 
future.  Many  of  you  will  look  upon  these  lines  after  that  depres- 
sion, that  unemployment,  has  you  in  its  grip.  Many  of  you  will 
read  these  pages  after  you  have  travelled  in  despair  and  danger 
over  many  a  railroad,  through  many  a  city  and  town,  in  search  of  a 
job  that  does  not  exist. 

When  that  time  is  upon  you,  or  now,  when  you  can  see  the  signs 
of  it,  the  necessary  preparations  for  it,  on  the  part  of  the  boss — 
in  this  very  speeding-up  process  of  which  temporarily  provides  you 
v/ith  the  right  to  toil  and  make  a  fortune  for  him — is  the  time 
when  you  should  seriously  consider  the  situation  you  are  in,  and 
seriously  determine  what  shall  be  done  by  yourself  (for  no  one  else 
will  do  it)  to  relieve  yourself  from  danger. 

Fellow  Workingman,  do  you,  can  you  expect  any  aid  from  craft 
unions?  Is  not  their  treason  and  their  swindling  exposed  in  a 
thousand  deeds?  If  you  get  hold  of  this  little  book  before  the 
great  panic,  which  we,  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World  tell 
you  is  certain  to  come,  then  use  a  half  day's  wages  to  take  out  a 
card  in  our  organization,  and  if  this  writing  does  not  .  fall  into 


90 


your  hands,  until  the  chaos  is  upon  us,  and  the  capitalist  is  ''re- 
trenching" at  your  expense,  why  then  employ  your  leisure,  you'll 
have  lots  of  it,  in  studying  the  plan  and  method  of  the  Industrial 
Workers  of  the  World. 

Here  is  something  different,  here  is  something  hopeful.  We  do 
not  have  to  tell  you  that  your  government  has  done  nothing  but 
marshal  the  forces  of  capitalism  against  you.  We  have  proved  to 
you  in  its  pamphlet  that  the  craft  union  system  has  shifted  you 
into  positions  v^here  capitalism  ca'n  not  help  but  defeat  you. 

The  following  manifesto,  which  was  issued  as  the  call  for  the 
formation  of  the  I.  W.  W.  is  as  potent  today  as  when  written,  19 
years  ago. 


INDUSTRIAL  UNION  MANIFESTO 

Social  relations  and  groupings  only  reflect  mechanical  and 
Industrial  conditions.  The  great  facts  of  present  industry  are 
the  displacement  of  human  skill  by  machines  and  the  increase 
of  capitalist  power  through  concentration  in  the  possession  of  the 
tools  with  which  wealth  is  produced  and  distributed. 

Because  of  these  facts  trade  divisions  among  laborers  and  com- 
petion  among  capitalists  are  alike  disappearing.  Class  divisions 
grow  ever  more  fixed  and  class  antagonism  more  sharp.  Ti  ade 
lines  have  been  swallowed  up  in  a  common  servitude  of  all  workers 
to  the  machines  which  they  tend.  New  machines,  ever  replacing 
less  productive  ones,  wipe  out  whole  trades  and  plunge  new  bodies 
of  workers  into  the  ever-growing  army  of  tradeless,  hopeless  un- 
employed. As  human  beings  and  human  skill  are  displaced  by 
mechanical  progress,  the  capitalists  need  use  the  workers  only  dur- 
ing that  brief  period  when  muscles  and  nerve  respond  most  in- 
tensely. The  moment  the  laborer  no  longer  yields  the  maximum 
of  profits  he  is  thrown  upon  the  scrap  pile,  to  starve  alongside  the 
discarded  machine.  A  dead  line  has  been  drawn,  and  an  age  limit 
established,  to  cross  which,  in  this  world  of  monopolized  oppor- 
tunities, means  condemnation  to  industrial  death. 

The  worker,  wholly  separated  from  the  land  and  the  tools,  with 
his  skill  of  craftmanship  rendered  useless,  is  sunk  in  the  uniform 
mass  of  wage  slaves.  He  sees  his  power  of  resistance  broken  by 

91 


class  divisions,  perpetuated  from  outgrown  industrial  stages.  His 
wages  constantly  grow  less  as  his  hours  grow  longer  and  prices 
grow  higher.  Shifted  here  and  there  by  the  demands  of  profit 
takers,  the  laborer's  home  no  longer  exists.  In  this  hopeless  con- 
dition he  is  forced  to  accept  whatever  humiliating  conditions  his 
masters  may  impose.  He  is  submitted  to  a  physical  and  intellec- 
tual examination  more  searching  than  was  the  chattel  slave  when 
sold  from  the  auction  block.  Laborers  are  no  longer  classified  by 
differences  in  trade  skill,  but  the  employer  assigns  them  according 
to  the  machines  to  which  they  are  attached.  These  divisions,  far 
from  representing  differences  in  skill  or  interests  among  the 
workers,  are  imposed  by  the  employers  that  workers  may  be  pitted 
against  one  another  and  spurred  to  greater  exertion  in  the  shop, 
and  that  all  resistance  to  capitalist  tyranny  may  be  weakened  by 
artificial  distinctions. 

While  encouraging  these  outgrown  divisions  among  the  workers 
the  capitalists  carefully  adjust  themselves  to  the  new  conditions. 
They  wipe  out  all  differences  among  themselves  and  present  a  unit- 
ed front  in  their  war  upon  labor.  Through  employers*  associations, 
they  seek  to  crush,  with  brutal  force,  by  the  injunctions  of  the 
judiciary,  and  the  use  of  military  power,  all  efforts  at  resistance. 
Or  when  the  other  policy  seems  more  profitable,they  conceal  their 
daggers  beneath  the  Civic  Federation  and  hoodwink  and  betray 
those  whom  they  would  rule  and  exploit.  Both  methods  depend  for 
success  upon  the  blindness  and  internal  dissensions  of  the  working 
class.  The  employers'  line  of  battle  and  methods  of  warfare  cor- 
respond to  the  solidarity  of  the  mechanical  and  industrial  concen- 
tration, while  workers  still  form  their  fighting  organizations  on 
lines  of  long-gone  trade  divisions. 

The  battles  of  the  past  emphasize  this  lesson. 

The  textile  workers  of  Lowell,  Philadelphia,  and  Fall  River ;  the 
butchers  of  Chicago,  weakened  by  the  disintegrating  effects  of 
trade  divisions;  the  machinists  on  the  Santa  Fe,  unsupported  by 
their  fellow  workers  subject  to  the  same  masters;  the  long 
struggling  miners  of  Colorado,  hampered  by  lack  of  unity  and 
solidarity  upon  the  industrial  battlefield,  the  thousands  of  subway 
railroad  workers  of  New  York  City  forced  into  defeat  by  orders 
from  the  Civic  Federation,  the  unholy  alliance  between  leaders  of 
labor  and  captains  of  industry ;  the  hatmakers  in  a  long-drawn-out 
struggle  fighting  the  industrial  power  of  their  opponents  with 
weapons  of  by-gone  days;  the  iron  and  steel  workers  defeated  in 

92 


their  efforts  to  beat  the  gigantic  combination  of  capitalist  interests 
with  a  disintegrated,  powerless  craft  union  of  mechanics ;  the 
switchmen  of  the  Northwest  losing  their  contest  through  the  alle- 
giance of  their  fellow  unionists  to  the  common  enemy ;  the  suffer- 
ing coal  miners  of  Pennsylvania  and  Illinois,  starving  in  a  hopeless 
conflict  while  other  union  miners  are  supplying  the  markets  with 
coal ;  the  defeated  street  car  workers  of  Philadelphia  unsupported 
by  other  craft  unionists  in  their  conflict ;  the  tens  of  thousands  of 
militant  men  and  women  of  that  city  who,  not  shackled  by  craft 
union  contracts  which  would  force  them  to  scab  as  the  craft 
unionists  had  done,  preferred  to  stand  by  the  striking  car  men  in 
struggle  against  oppression,  wrong  and  abuses  and  be  crushed 
with  them  as  the  result  of  this  division  in  the  ranks  of  the 
workers ;  the  steel  and  iron  workers  of  Bethlehem  deserted  when 
support  and  co-operation  would  have  brought  victory  and  amel- 
ioration of  the  evils  they  rebeled  against ;  the  seamen  once  in  the 
employ  of  the  same  corporation  by  which  the  steel  workers'  craft 
unions  were  crushed,  appealing  in  vain  for  the  support  in  their 
struggle  for  the  rights  of  free  men,  all  bear  witness  to  the  helpless- 
ness and  impotency  of  labor  as  at  present  organized. 

This  worn  out  and  corrupt  system  offers  no  promise  of  improve- 
ment or  adaptation.  There  is  no  silver  lining  to  the  clouds  of 
darkness  and  despair  settling  down  upon  the  world  of  labor. 

This  system  offers  only  a  perpetual  struggle  for  slight  relief 
from  wage  slavery.  It  is  blind  to  the  possibility  of  establishing  an 
industrial  democracy,  wherein  there  shall  be  no  wage  slavery,  but 
where  the  workers  will  own  the  tools  they  operate,  and  the  product 
of  which  they  alone  should  enjoy. 

It  shatters  the  ranks  of  the  workers  into  fragments,  rendering 
them  helpless  and  impotent  on  the  industrial  battlefield. 

Separation^f  craft  from  renders  industrial  solidarity  im- 
possible. 

Union  men  scab  upon  union  men ;  hatred  of  worker  for  worker 
is  engendered,  and  the  workers  are  delivered  helpless  and  disin- 
tegrated into  the  hands  of  the  capitalists. 

Craft  jealousy  leads  to  the  attempt  to  create  trade  monopolies. 
Prohibitive  initiation  fees  are  established  that  force  men  to  be- 
come scabs  against  their  will.  Men  whom  manliness  or  circum- 
stances have  driven  from  one  trade  are  thereby  fined  when  they 
seek  to  transfer  membership  to  the  union  of  a  new  craft. 


93 


Craft  divisions  hinder  the  growth  of  class  consciousness  of 
workers,  foster  the  idea  of  harmony  of  interests  between  employ- 
ing exploiter  and  employed  slave.  They  permit  the  association  of 
the  misleaders  of  the  workers  with  the  capitalists  in  the  Civic  Fed- 
eration, where  plans  are  made  for  the  perpetuation  of  capitalism, 
and  the  permanent  enslavement  of  the  workers  through  the  wage 
system. 

Previous  efforts  for  the  betterment  of  the  working  class  have 
proven  abortive  because  limited  in  scope  and  disconnected  in  ac- 
tion. 

Universal  economic  evils  afflicting  the  working  class  can  be 
eradicated  only  by  an  universal  working  class  movement.  Such 
a  movement  of  the  working  class  is  impossible  while  separate  craft 
and  wage  agreements  are  made  favoring  the  employer  against 
ether  crafts  in  the  same  industry,  and  while  energies  are  wasted 
in  fruitless  jurisdiction  struggles  which  serve  only  to  further  the 
personal  aggrandizement  of  union  officials. 

THE  INDUSTRIAL  WORKERS  OF  THE  WORLD 

is  an  organization  to  fulfill  these  conditions.  It  is  the  modern, 
scientific  movement  of  the  working  class  toward  emancipation  by 
INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM.  All  the  workers  in  any  division  of  an 
industry  are  organized  into  an  INDUSTRIAL  UNION,  so  branch- 
ed as  the  needs  of  the  industry  may  require ;  these  INDUSTRIAL 
UNIONS  are  in  turn  organized  into  INDUSTRIAL  DEPART- 
MENTS of  connecting,  or  kindred  industries,  while  all  are  brought 
together  in  the  GENERAL  ORGANIZATION  of  the  IN- 
DUSTRIAL WORKERS  OF  THE  WORLD— ONE  BIG  UNION 
OF  ALL  THE  WORKING  CLASS  of  ALL  THE  WORLD,  making 
possible  world-wide  working-class  SOLIDARITY. 

It  is  founded  on  the  class  struggle  and  its  general  administration 
is  conducted  in  harmony  with  the  recognition  of  the  irrepressible 
conflict  between  the  capitalist  class  and  the  working  class.  It  is 
established  as  the  industrial  organization  of  the  working  class, 
without  affiliation  with,  or  support  of,  any  political  or  non-political 
sect. 

All  power  rests  in  the  collective  membership. 

Industrial  branch,  industrial  union,  departmental  and  general 
administration,  union  labels,  buttons,  badges  and  emblems,  trans- 

94 


fer  cards,  initiation  fees  and  per  capita  tax  are  uniform  through- 
out. 

All  members  must  hold  membership  in  the  industrial  union  in 
which  they  are  employed,  but  there  is  a  universal  (free)  transfer 
of  membership  between  all  unions. 

Workers  bringing  union  cards  from  industrial  unions  in  foreign 
countries  are  freely  admitted  into  the  organization. 

The  general  administration  issues  publications  representing  the 
entire  union  and  its  principles  which  reach  all  members  in  every 
industry  at  regular  intervals. 

Hundreds  of  thousands  of  workers,  in  every  civilized,country 
are  coming  to  understand  the  principles  of  industrial  unionism. 
They  are  organizing  for  the  battles  of  today,  for  better  conditions, 
and  for  the  final  clash  in  the  future  when  the  general  lock-out  of 
the  parasite  class  of  non-producers  will  end  the  contest  for  indus- 
trial possession. 

If  you  are  one  of  the  millions  needed  to  accomplish  the  task, 
join  the  industrial  union  composed  of  workers  in  the  shop  or  plant 
where  you  work.  If  none  exists  be  the  first  to  get  busy.  Get 
others,  organize  them.  Learn  to  tackle  the  industrial  problems, 
show  others  how  the  workers  will  be  able  to  run  the  industries 
through  agencies  of  their  own  creation  the  world  over. 

Write  for  further  information  to 

GENERAL  SECRETARY-TREASURER 
1001  West  Madison  Street, 
Chicago,  111. 


D5 


To  Be  Posted.-- 


ON  CURRENT  LABOR  NEWS, 
ESPECIALLY  L  W.  W.  NEWS, 

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Craft  Unionism- 
Why  It  Fails 


Craft  Unionism  is  foundering  on  the  rocks  of 
Capitalism.  Only  Industrial  Unionism  as 

(exemplified  by  the  L  W.W.  can  save  the  day... 
Library 
Institute*  of  Industrial  Relations 
University  of  California 
Published  by  the  Los  iBgeles  24 ♦  California 

fnduttrial  Workers  of  the  World  P'W'ig^gf    7V»n  f^£>r%§'e 

1001  W.  Madison  St.  Chicago.  III..  U.  S.  A,  *    '  ^✓CT f  Cd 


CRAFT  DNIONISM-WHY  IT  FAILS 


PRICE  TEN  CENTS 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE 
INDUSTRIAL  WORKERS  OF  THE  WORLD 
1001  W.  MADISON  ST.,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 


Printed  by  Printing  and  Publishing  Workers'  Industrial  Union  No.  450,  I.  W.  W. 


Craft  Unionism — ^Why  It  Fails 


THE  STEEL  CRAFT  UNIONS 

The  Amalgamated  Association  of  Iron,  Steel  and  Tin  Workers, 
which  was  the  organization  involved  in  the  Homestead  Strike,  has 
been  the  largest  and  most  powerful  of  the  unions  affiliated  with 
the  American  Federation  of  Labor  up  to  that  time.  But,  noth- 
withstanding  its  record  of  achievement,  it  was  structurally  defi- 
cient in  that  it  had  totally  neglected  to  provide  for  the  inclusion  of 
the  unskilled  workers  in  the  industry  with  the  skilled  workers  of 
whom  it  was  composed.  Moreover,  while  the  steel  companies  were 
raking  the  countries  of  the  old  world  with  a  fine  tooth  comb  in 
their  search  for  cheaper  labor,  this  union  insisted  upon  citizenship 
as  a  condition  of  membership.  This  was  la  shortsighted,  unwise 
and  dangerous  policy.  The  native  and  English  speaking  workmen 
were  thus  encouraged  to  regard  ''the  foreigners''  as  their  industrial 
enemies.  The  lower  living  standards  of  the  newcomers  gave  them 
a  decided  advantage  in  the  competition  for  jobs,  and  this  was  nat- 
urally resented  by  the  workers  already  on  the  ground.  Not  under- 
standing the  play  of  the  economic  forces  which  introduced  the  alien 
workers,  the  union,  which  should  have  functioned  to  regulate  the 
competition,  barred  foreigners  from  membership,  thereby  intensi- 
fying instead  of  lessening  the  feeling  of  hostility  between  the  two 
elements.  The  foreigners  were  met  with  persecution  instead  of 
education,  with  brickbats  rather  than  organizers. 

So,  when  the  strike  was  declared  in  Homestead,  the  steel 
workers  there  and  elsewhere  were  divided  into  "white"  union  men 
and  foreigners ;  that  is,  into  the  organized  skilled  workers  and  the 
non-union  workers.  Economically  this  tended  to  be  fatal.  Solid- 
arity was  next  to  impossible  under  these  circumstances,  and  worst 
of  all,  it  was  the  union,  with  its  erroneous  conception,  that  stood  in 
the  way  of  unity — division  was  organized.  As  a  consequence  the 
union  entered  the  strike  under  a  disadvantage,  which  the  ready 
support  of  the  foreigners  in  the  struck  plants  could  not  entirely 
overcome. 

The  Carnegie  Brothers  and  Co.,  then  the  most  powerful  of  the 
steel  companies,  had  determined  to  brook  no  restraint  at  the  hands 
of  the  union.  It  insisted  upon  the  acceptance  of  a  reduced  rate  and 
relinquishment  of  the  union  by  the  men.  These  were  conditions 
that  the  steel  workers  were  unwilling  to  accept,  and  the  strike  fol- 
lowed. 

The  steel  workers  at  Homestead  entered  the  strike  with  spirit 
and  determination.    But  here,  again,  a  failure  to  understand  the 

3 


mission  and  function  of  a  labor  union  militated  against  success 
and  played  into  the  hands  of  steel  companies.  For,  tho  the  fight 
was  nominally  between  the  lunion  and  the  Carnegie  Co.,  it  was 
really  the  beginning  of  a  contest  which  was  to  determine  whether 
the  steel  industry  was  to  be  conducted  upon  an  open-shop,  or  upon 
a  union  basis.  The  real  power  of  the  Amalgamated  lay  in  the 
measure  of  its  control  over  the  labor  power  of  its  membership,  but 
this  was  only  dimly  perceived.  So  when  the  Carnegie  Co.  pro- 
ceeded to  bring  a  force  of  armed  Pinkertons  the  steel  workers  met 
them  with  physical  force  and  defeated  them  in  pitched  battle.  Had 
the  coming  of  the  Pinkertons  been  met  with  a  general  strike  dec- 
laration in  the  industry  the  outlook  would  have  been  entirely  dif- 
ferent, but  as  it  was,  only  the  Duquesne  mills  and  a  few  other  plants 
in  the  surrounding  country  struck  in  support  of  the  Homestead 
men.  Insofar  as  the  steel  industry  as  a  whole  was  concerned  the 
shutting  down  of  these  plants  was  more  than  compensated  for  by 
the  increased  output  in  other  plants  manned  by  Amalgamated  As- 
sociation members.  The  strike  failed  and  the  greatest  contributing 
factor  to  its  loss  was  the  union  itself.  From  that  time  on  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Amalgamated  waned  steadily  until  all  power  to  pro- 
tect the  interest  of  the  steel  workers  through  it  was  lost. 

In  1901  also,  the  steel  workers  under  the  banner  of  the  Amal- 
gamated sustained  another  disastrous  defeat.  This  strike  lasted 
14  months. 

A  DEAD  TRADE  UNION  IN  THE  WAY 

Passing  over  a  number  of  small  outbreaks  in  the  steel  industry, 
we  come  to  the  great  and  memorable  strike  of  1919.  The  Amal- 
gamated Association,  since  1901,  had  been  nothing  more  than  a 
name,  so  far  as  influencing  the  relationship  between  the  steel 
workers  and  their  employers.  M.  F.  Tighe,  president  of  the  union, 
testified  before  the  Senate  Commission  investigating  the  1919  steel 
strike  that  in  its  business  relations  with  the  steel  companies  the 
Amalgamated  had  become  accustomed  to  "giving  way  to  every  re- 
quest that  was  made  by  the  companies  when  they  insisted  upon  it." 
What  a  shamelessly  humiliating  confession — that  the  union  was 
made  the  instrument  by  which  the  will  of  the  employers  was  im- 
posed upon  the  workers. 

As  an  organization  the  Amalgamated  by  1919  had  been  re- 
duced to  a  mere  skeleton.  It  did  not  afford  a  nucleus  for  organ- 
ization of  the  steel  workers,  but,  as  the  strike  demonstrated,  it  was 
a  rallying  point  for  the  forces  which  were  determined  to  prevent 
organization.  It  could  function  only  for  the  mill  owners  just  as  all 
the  other  unions  in  the  craft  system  function  for  the  employers. 
It  is  based  upon  and  guided  by  a  false  conception  about  the  char- 
acter of  the  relationship  existing  between  the  employing  and  wage- 
working  classes.  The  Amalgamated  is  the  most  useful  institution 
upon  which  the  steel  barons  can  rely  in  their  efforts  to  forestall 
organization  of  the  steel  workers  as  a  national  industrial  working 

4' 


force.  It  depends  far  more  upon  recognition  by  the  employers  than 
upon  recognition  by  the  workers  in  the  industry.  In  this  connec- 
tion, William  Z.  Foster  remarks,  (The  Great  Steel  Strike,  page  19.) 

If  when  in  its  prime,  this  organization  had  shown  sufficient  or- 
ganizing activity  in  the  non-union  mills,  and  especially  by  taking  in 
the  unskilled,  it  would  have  so  entrenched  itself  that  Carnegie  and  his 
henchman,  Frick,  never  could  have  dislodged  it.  But,  unfortunately, 
it  undertook  too  much  of  its  organizing  work  at  the  conference  table 
and  not  enough  at  the  mill  gates." 

A  question  of  real  interest  and  importance  is;  Why  was  the 
course  which  the  Amalgamated  pursues  adopted  ?  That  this  course 
has  always  worked  out  detrimentally  for  the  steel  workers  and  ad- 
vantageously for  the  companies  should  have  impressed  the  mem- 
bers and  those  who  controlled  the  organization,  if  there  existed  any 
sincere  desire  to  further  the  interest  of  the  men  who  labor  in  the 
industry.  Is  it  more  than  a  mere  coincidence  that  in  spite  of  their 
proven  ineffectiveness  that  the  old  methods  and  policies  were  ad- 
hered to  by  the  Amalgamated  Association  Y  There  is  ground  upon 
which  to  base  the  suspicion  that  the  Almagamated  is  maintained 
in  the  interest  of  the  steel  companies,  as  a  preventative  to  the  rise 
of  a  genuine  militant  organization  among  the  workers  in  the  steel 
industry.  Its  history  for  thirty  years  goes  far  in  support  of  this 
theory.  It  has  functioned  to  defeat  the  steel  workers  in  every 
critical  situation  which  has  arisen  since  Homestead. 

And  if,  as  Foster  correctly  states,  the  Amalgamated  Associa- 
tion of  Iron,  Steel  and  Tin  Workers  was  ^'finally  crushed"  in  1909 
where  was  the  wisdom  in  going  to  so  much  trouble  and  expense  in 
1919  to  re-establish  so  futile  an  organization  in  the  industry? 
Without  questioning  the  sincerity  of  the  men  who  struggled  so 
bravely  to  bring  the  steel  workers  under  the  domination  of  the  A. 
F.  of  L.  and  the  craft  system,  we  may  point  out  that  they  were 
highly  consistent.   This  is,  however,  only  by  the  way. 

A  MIGHTY  EFFORT,  BUT  MISDIRECTED 

Even  after  allowing  for  the  pro-union  sentiment  which  ob- 
tained as  a  holdover  from  war  necessity  the  organization  work  of 
the  National  Committee  for  Organizing  the  Steel  Industry  was  a 
wonderfully  successful  achievement.  Nothing  similar  had  ever 
before  been  attempted  or  accomplished.  Both  credit  and  praise 
is  due  those  who  conceived  the  undertaking  and  those  who  had  the 
work  in  charge.  The  failure  of  the  strike  was  not  their  responsi- 
bility, but  was  the  inevitable  result  of  the  craft  union  system.  The 
directors  of  the  effort  were  shackled  and  hampered  at  every  step, 
and  double-crossed  at  critical  times,  from  the  launching  of  the  idea 
to  the  last  act  of  treachery  by  the  Amalgamated  and  other  unions. 
The  strike  was  lost  not  because  its  managers  lacked  either  ca- 
pacity or  earnestness,  but  because  of  a  lack  of  vision  in  expecting 
to  employ  the  craft  system  for  a  purpose  for  which  it  was  not 
designed,  and  could  not  serve. 

5 


Of  course  organization  upon  which  the  future  of  the  workers 
in  the  steel  industry  was  predicated  was  impossible  without  finance 
with  which  it  might  be  undertaken,  and  the  craft  internationals 
were  expected  to  supply  this.  In  this  respect  also,  the  National 
Committee  was  disappointed.  Organizing  the  steel  industry,  with 
the  craft  system  as  a  pattern,  was  on  a  par  with  trying  to 
sink  a  shaft  with  a  toothpick  and  a  teaspoon;  and  men  like  John 
Fitzpatrick  and  Foster,  together  with  the  workers  who  trusted 
them,  were  dupes  of  the  system  and  the  victims  of  betrayed  con- 
fidence. The  craft  system  leaders  were  fearful  that,  outside  of  the 
craft  system,  some  other  force  would  seek  to  establish  a  genuine 
and  militant  labor  union  among  the  steel  workers,  so  they  con- 
sented to  the  experiment  as  a  purely  defensive  measure,  intended 
to  prevent  the  rise  of  a  rival  to  the  A.  F.  of  L.  The  memory  of 
Lawrence  and  other  places  was  still  with  them. 

A  STRIKE  BY  MANY  UNIONS 

As  far  as  the  organizing  work  is  concerned,  stupendous  re- 
sults were  obtained,  but  these  were  mainly  due  to  the  cultivation 
of  the  idea  that  the  workers  in  the  steel  industry  were  to  be  united 
as  a  solid  economic  force.  In  practice,  however,  as  fast  as  they 
were  organized  they  were  segregated  into  the  several  internationals 
claiming  jurisdiction  over  the  different  labor  classifications  in  the 
industry.  The  effect  of  this  was  to  dishearten  and  discourage  the 
steel  workers.  While  the  disaffection,  which  later  on  broke  the 
solidarity  of  the  strike,  may  have  been  due  principally  to  the  Amal- 
gamated Association,  the  make  of  the  craft  system  made  unlikely, 
if  indeed  it  did  not  make  entirely  impossible,  that  unity  and 
harmony  so  necessary  to  workers  in  conflict  with  modern  corpora- 
tions. The  actions  of  the  Amalgamated  were  only  a  foretaste  of 
what  the  craft  system  holds  in  store  for  workers  in  industries  of 
any  magnitude,  where  many  classifications  of  labor  are  necessary 
to  operation.  The  craft  system  is  at  variance  with  the  arrange^ 
ment  of  industry  and  can  only  secure  for  labor  defeats  and  disaster. 

Over  300,000  men  were  involved  in  the  strike^ — a  force  strong 
enough,  had  there  been  harmony,  to  have  brought  even  the  arrogant 
United  States  Steel  Corporation  to  its  knees.  But,  as  Foster  points 
out  in  his  book,  ''The  weakening  of  the  strike  began  about  No- 
vember 15." 

"In  a  number  of  plants,  notably  those  of  the  Trumbull  Steel  Com- 
pany of  the  Sharon  Steel  Hoop  Company,  the  Amalgamated  Associa- 
tion had  agreements  covering  the  skilled  steel  making  trades,  but 
when  the  laborers  struck  these  skilled  men  had  to  quit  also.  The 
break  in  the  district  came  when  the  Amalgamated  Association  virtual- 
ly forced  the  laborers  back  to  work  in  the  shops  in  order  to  get  them 
(the  shops)  in  operation  *  *  *  the  companies  refused  to  give  the  lab- 
orers any  consideration  until  the  end  of  the  scale  year.  This  meant 
that  the  latter  were  told  to  work  and  wait  until  the  end  of  the  fol- 
lowing June,  when  their  grievances  would  be  taken  up.    The  result 

6 


was  disastrous;  the  laborers  lost  faith  in  the  Amalgamated  Associa- 
tion, feeling  that  they  had  been  sacrificed  for  the  skilled  workers. 
They  began  to  flock  back  to  work  in  all  the  plants.  Then  men  in 
other  trades  took  the  position  that  it  was  foolish  for  them  to  fight  on, 
seeing  that  the  Amalgamated  Association  was  forcing  its  men  back 
into  the  mills.  A  general  movement  millward  set  in.  *  *  In  passing  it 
may  be  noted  that  in  Pittsburgh  and  other  places  where  it  had  con- 
tracts, the  Amalgamated  Association  took  the  same  action,  with  the 
same  general  results." 

While  the  assumption  was  that  the  A.  A.  favored  the  skilled 
workers  at  the  expense  of  the  unskilled  it  is  far  more  correct  to  say 
that  it  played  off  the  skilled  workers  against  the  unskilled  in  the 
interest  of  the  steel  companies.  This  is  how  it  resulted,  and  so 
must  the  workers  learn  to  regard  the  Amalgamated  Association, 
the  unions  of  which  it  is  typical,  and  the  system  of  which  it  is  an 
integral  part.  Seen  from  a  class  viewpoint,  the  character  it  pre- 
sents IS  that  of  capitalist  agency. 

Foster  enumerates  other  effects  of  the  craft  system,  tho  ap- 
parenty  without  understanding  that  the  system  was  responsible. 
He  lays  the  blame  upon  the  international  officers,  who,  whatever 
their  personal  inclinations,  only  obeyed  the  laws  governing  in  their 
craft  union  system.  There  is  all  thru  Foster's  account  a  fail- 
ure to  appreciate  that  the  interest  of  the  international  unions  in 
the  craft  system  is  something  entirely  different  from  that  of  the 
workers  who  compose  them.  And  the  strange  thing  is  that  he  him- 
self does  not  see  this  which  he  makes  so  plain  for  his  readers.  Of 
Steelton  he  remarks: 

"In  Steelton  the  men  had  been  strongly  organized  during  the  war ; 
but  the  error  ivas  made  of  putting  all  the  trades  into  one  federal 
union.  Then  when  the  craft  unions  insisted  later  that  their  man  be 
turned  over  to  them,  the  resultant  resistance  of  the  members,  espe- 
cially of  the  paid  officers,  virtually  destroyed  the  organization.  When 
the  strike  came,  only  a  small  percentage  struck,  nor  did  they  stick 
long." 

IT  WAS  DIVISION  THAT  WAS  FATAL 

The  mistake  was  not  made  in  putting  Steelton  men  into  one 
union,  but  when,  in  accordance  with  craft  rules  and  custom,  the 
membership  of  that  one  union  was  divided  up  and  distributed 
among  the  several  international  unions.  This  procedure  was  right 
and  proper  according  to  the  viewpoint  of  those  who  accept,  and 
those  who  dominate  the  craft  union  system.  That  it  works  dis- 
astrously for  the  workingclass  is  a  fact  which  only  the  few  mili- 
tants are  yet  considering. 

That  the  workers  resented  and  resisted  this  division  shows 
that  they  were  disappointed,  and  that  it  was  imposed  upon  them. 
They  felt  the  necessity  for  united  action  and  realized  that  that  was 
greatly  facilitated  by  one  organization  embracing  all  the  workers 
in  the  industry.   No  wonder  most  of  them  did  not  strike  and  that 

7 


the  few  who  did  did  not  stick  long,  when  they  found  out  that  their 
economic  swords  were  made  of  lath. 

Again,  in  mentioning  Bethlehem,  Foster  informs  us  that: 
"The  first  break  came  a  week  later  (then  September  29.)  It  was 
charged  largely  to  the  steam  engineers,  who  heeded  the  strike-break- 
ing advice  of  their  international  officers  and  returned  to  work. 

Another  factor  was  the  failure  of  support  from  the  railroad  men  on 
the  interplant  system.  Had  these  two  bodies  of  men  been  held  in  line 
by  their  officers,  the  Bethlehem  strike  would  have  been  a  success." 

Describing  the  Youngstown  sector  of  the  strike,  Foster 
comments  : 

^*In  the  immediate  Youngstown  district  the  strike  was  highly  effective, 
hardly  a  ton  of  steel  being  produced  anywhere  for  several  weeks. 
This  was  due  largely  to  the  walkout  of  the  railroad  men  employed  in 
the  mill  yards,  who  acted  on  their  own  volition.  Many  of  these  be- 
longed to  the  Brotherhoods,  and  others  to  the  Switchmen's  Union, 
while  some  were  unorganized;  but  all  struck  together." 

Foster  in  his  account  of  the  steel  strike  indicts  the  craft  union 
system,  while  apparently  disinclined  to  arraign  it.  The  loss  of  the 
strike  is  invariably  attributed  to  divisions  growing  out  of  the 
system;  moreover,  from  division  for  which  the  system  provides 
and  which  it  insists  upon.  To  blame  the  officials  of  the  craft 
system  for  defects  that  are  natural  outgrowths  of  it  is  not  more 
logical  than  to  blame  individual  capitalists  for  the  social  defects 
inherent  in  the  capitalist  system. 


IT  WAS  THE  SYSTEM  THAT  FAILED 

In  Sharon  the  Amalgamated  Association  is  directly  charged 
with  disrupting  the  strike;  in  Bethlehem  the  pattern  makers  and 
steam  engineers  are  made  responsible;  and  in  Steelton  the  craft 
system  as  a  whole  is  proven  to  have  made  strike  solidarity  impos- 
sible, while  the  railroad  crafts  are  scored  for  their  failure  to  stand 
with  the  strikers. 

Under  the  system  it  is  made  clear  that  no  other  outcome  but 
defeat  was  possible.  The  Amalgamated  Association  and  the  other 
unions  did  exactly  as  they  have  always  done  and  were  only  acting 
as  they  were  intended  to.  The  laws  and  practices  of  the  craft 
system  are  their  justification.  To  have  expected  them  to  function 
otherwise  was  to  not  understand  the  system  or  to  hope  for  the  im- 
possible from  it.  It  is  not  accidental  that  in  every  instance  quoted 
by  Foster  he  felt  compelled  to  place  the  responsibility  for  the  di- 
visions that  weakened  the  strike  squarely  upon  a  craft  union.  But 
he  failed  to  explain  that  in  each  and  every  one  of  these  instances 
the  unions  were  well  within  their  rights  according  to  the  industrial 
creed  of  the  craft  system.  They  operated  in  strict  conformity  with 
the  laws  that  govern  under  the  craft  system,  of  which  the  A.  F.  of 
L.  and  the  railroad  Brotherhoods  are  the  two  main  divisions. 

8 


Two  things  stand  out  prominently  in  Foster's  account — every 
union  man  should  read  his  book,  'The  Great  Steel  Strike  and  its 
Lessons":  (1)  That  unionism  which  cements  the  workers  together 
is  the  first  and  greatest  requirements  of  the  workers  in  the  steel 
industry;  and  (2)  that  such  an  organization  cannot  be  achieved 
under  the  craft  union  system. 

Foster  also  proves  conclusively  that  the  defeat  of  the  steel 
strike  in  1919  was  not  due  to  the  crushing  power  of  the  steel  mag- 
nates, but  was  because  of  the  division-breeding  and  weakness-be- 
getting tendencies  of  the  craft  system.  This  system  lost  the  strike. 
Whether  this  was  intentional  or  not  does  not  matter.  The  thing 
that  does  count  is  that  without  a  radical  departure  from  its  ac- 
customed policy,  it  was  unequal  to  winning.  To  have  fought  the 
strike  in  a  manner  that  guaranteed  success  would  have  meant  that 
the  craft  system  must  revolutionize  itself  and  adopt  the  principles, 
forms  and  tactics  of  the  I.  W.  W.  This  it  will  not  do,  and  men  who 
presume  to  know  the  labor  movement  should  have  been  aware  of 
that. 

THE  RAILROAD  CRAFT  UNIONS 

The  Buffalo  Switchmen's  strike  (1892)  affords  another  ex- 
ample of  a  great  opportunity  lost  to  labor.  There  is  a  lesson  in 
this  strike  for  union  men  and  political  actionist  alike.  The  strike 
was  called  to  enforce  a  10-hour  law  for  railroad  men,  which  had 
been  passed  by  the  New  York  Legislature.  The  law  was  a  fact  on 
the  statute  books,  but  a  fiction  on  the  railroad  jobs. 

The  strike  paralyzed  freight  movement  coiiipletely,  from  the 
time  it  was  inaugurated  on  August  13.  On  August  18,  the  governor 
sent  several  thousand  state  troops  into  the  strike  zone,  with  the  re- 
sult that  picketing  by  the  strikers  became  impossible.  In  this  ex- 
tremity the  national  officers  of  the  Switchmen's  Union  sought  a 
conference  with  the  brotherhoods,  to  consider  an  extension  of  the 
strike  to  include  the  engineers,  firemen,  conductors  and  trainmen. 
P.  M.  Arthur  of  the  B.  of  L.  E.  refused  to  attend  this  conference 
and  nothing  came  of  it.  The  other  railroad  organizations  ex- 
pressed sympathy  and  willingness  to  co-operate  with  the  switch- 
men, but  refused  to  act  without  the  engineers.  Here  again  was 
the  craft  system  in  operation  with  its  usual  result — the  Buffalo 
Switchmen  were  beaten.  No  matter  where  the  blame  has  been  laid, 
the  responsibility  for  the  loss  of  this  strike  is  with  the  craft  system 
and  its  organized  division  of  the  workers.  Many  of  the  partici- 
pants in  the  strike  were  so  impressed  that  a  movement  to  remedy 
the  structural  defects  of  the  railroad  unions  was  undertaken.  The 
manner  in  which  the  defeat  of  the  Buffalo  Switchmen  was  brought 
about  made  a  profound  impression  on  Eugene  V.  Debs,  General 
Secretary  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Firemen,  and  editor  of 
the  Firemen's  Official  Journal,  who  resigned  his  official  position, 
and  set  himself  to  organize  the  American  Railway  Union.  This  or- 
ganization wes  designed  to  embrace  every  worker  in  the  railroad 

9 


industry.  The  A.  R.  U.  grew  rapidly,  and  in  the  spring  of  1894, 
defeated  the  Great  Northern  Railway  Company,  in  a  strike  which 
lasted  about  three  weeks. 

THE  FIRST  CONSCIOUS  INDUSTRIAL  SUPPORT 

The  Pullman  general  strike  was  inaugurated  on  June  26, 
1894.  No  wage  demands  were  made  by  the  railroad  men,  for  the 
purpose  of  the  strike  was  to  force  compliance  from  the  Pullman 
company,  with  the  demands  of  its  shop  employes  who  had  been  on 
strike  since  May  11.  The  A.  R.  U.  sought  to  prevent  the  handling 
of  Pullman  cars  by  the  railroads,  and  thus  to  bring  such  pressure 
upon  the  Pullman  Co.  as  would  force  it  to  come  to  terms  with  its 
shopmen.  This  strike  offers  the  first  instance  of  conscious  in- 
dustrial support  in  the  history  of  American  labor  unionism. 

The  railroad  brotherhoods,  as  organizations,  were  hostile  to 
the  A.  R.  U.  and  opposed  to  the  strike,  tho  many  brotherhood 
men  joined  with  the  strikers.  This  antagonism  boded  ill  for  the 
success  of  the  strike,  for  with  the  first  indications  of  opportunity, 
it  was  bound  to  assume  the  aggressiveness  which  later  on  marked 
the  Pullman  strike.  The  Brotherhoods  felt  that  if  the  A.  R.  U. 
scored  successfully,  its  victory  would  sound  their  own  death  knell. 

As  in  the  Buffalo  Switchmen's  strike,  there  came  a  situation 
and  a  time  in  the  Pullman  strike  when  the  only  effective  answer 
to  capitalist  hostility  with  its  unfair  and  unscrupulous  methods  was 
felt  to  be  a  general  suspension  of  production  by  the  working  class, 
for  the  measures  adopted  to  accomplish  the  defeat  of  the  A.  R.  U. 
threatened  the  future  of  all  labor  organizations.  The  general  feel- 
ing among  the  workers  of  the  country  was  that  the  occasion  called 
for  a  demonstration  of  solidarity  by  the  workers  of  the  United 
States.  This  sentiment,  however,  was  not  shared  by  the  labor 
leaders,  although  they  deferred  to  it  by  responding  to  the  A.  R.  U. 
invitation  for  a  conference  in  Chicago.  But  these  leaders  did  not 
attend  the  Briggs'  House  conference  with  any  intention  of  plan- 
ning a  campaign  to  win  the  strike.  They  came  to  plan  the  death  of 
the  A.  R.  U.,  and  they  succeeded.  The  craft  system  could  not  af- 
ford the  winning  of  the  strike  by  the  American  Railway  Union. 

The  conference  had  already  decided  not  to  assist  the  A.  R.  U. 
when  Debs  arrived  at  the  conference  room.  They  communicated 
to  Debs  their  resolve  to  withold  the  industrial  support  of  the  craft 
organizations  and  notified  him  that  he  would  plead  in  vain  to  have 
their  decision  reversed.  Debs'  eloquent  pleading  was  powerless  to 
move  the  conferees  who  had  heard  their  masters'  will.  The  craft 
system  had  doomed  another  labor  effort  and  knifed  another  prom- 
ising movement  to  death.  ; 

GOMPERS  HELPED  KILL  THE  A.  R.  U. 

Samuel  Gompers,  while  in  New  York,  on  his  way  from  the 
Chicago  conference  to  Washington,  refused  to  disclose  to  the  re- 
porters anything  that  had  occurred  at  the  conference,  but  when 

10 


pressed  for  information  as  to  his  destination  and  his  mission,  con- 
fided to  the  newspapermen  that  he  was  on  his  way  to  attend  the 
funeral  of  the  A.  R.  U. 

Federal  troops,  Pinkertons,  injunctions  and  all  the  other  de- 
vices employed  to  break  this  strike  would  have  proven  futile  in  the 
face  of  the  solidarity  which  the  Chicago  conference  was  designed  to 
bring  about.  The  craft  system  proved  to  be  the  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  that  solidarity.  The  measures  to  which  the  capitalist  class  re- 
sorted have  been  blamed  for  loss  of  the  Pullman  strike,  and  under 
cover  of  this  assumption  the  real  culprit — the  craft  union  system 
with  its  organized  division — has  been  hidden.  The  labor  move- 
ment, as  expressed  by  this  system,  killed  the  A.  R.  XJ.,  lost  the 
Pullman  strike  by  holding  the  organized  workers  in  restraint  when 
a  few  days*  demonstration  of  economic  solidarity  would  have  de- 
cided the  issue  in  favor  of  the  railroad  men;  shown  the  advantage 
of  industrial  unionism;  and  would  have  advanced  American  labor 
far  on  the  way  of  progress  and  in  the  vanguard  of  the  world's 
movement,  which  is  rightfully  its  place. 

CRAFT  SYSTEM  MAKES  SHOPMEN  LOSE 

In  the  strike  of  shopmen  under  the  Shop  Federation  upon  the 
Harriman  lines  in  1911,  it  was  the  craft  system  which  undermined 
the  strike  and  condemned  the  shopmen  to  failure  and  defeat.  The 
means  and  methods  used  are  vividly  described  by  Carl  Person  in 
"The  Lizard's  Trail."  Person  was  one  of  the  foremost  figures  in 
this  strike,  and  was  in  a  position,  as  organizer  and  editor  of  the 
Bulletin,  to  be  thoroughly  acquainted  with  everything  that  trans- 
pired in  connection  with  the  strike.  He  leaves  no  doubt  in  the 
minds  of  his  readers  that  the  craft  union  system  must  be  held  re- 
sponsible for  the  failure  of  the  Harriman  Shopmen's  strike. 

In  the  recent  general  strike  of  the  railroad  shopmen  (1922)  the 
men  were  favorably  situated  because  the  strike  of  the  coal  mine 
workers  was  still  going  on.  Although  this  had  not  been  calculated, 
the  effect  of  these  two  strikes  in  closely  related  basic  industries 
could  have  been  used  advantageously  on  behalf  of  both,  were  it  not 
that  the  craft  system,  dominated  as  it  is  by  the  employers'  mental- 
ity, worked  to  the  defeat  of  both  mine  workers  and  the  shopmen. 
The  "captains  of  industry"  and  their  political  handmen  were  at 
their  wits'  end  to  cope  with  a  situation  so  dangerous  to  their  in- 
terest as  it  was  an  unlooked  for  development.  As  the  saying  goes, 
"they  were  up  in  the  air."  The  first  step  necessary  was  to  separate 
the  two  strikes  by  settling  one  and  isolating  the  other.  The  miners' 
strike  was  settled  satisfactorily  for  the  capitalists  by  the  simple 
expedient  of  using  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America  to  betray 
and  sacrifice  the  miners.  With  the  miners  back  in  their  working 
places  there  was  only  the  shopmen's  strike  to  deal  with  and  the 
machinery  of  the  craft  union  system,  ready  to  hand,  with  which  to 
break  up  the  solidarity  of  the  shopmen  and  to  prevent  the  possi- 
bility of  extending  the  strike  to  other  railroad  classifications.  While 

11 


the  miners'  strike  and  the  shopmen's  strike  were  simultaneously 
in  being  there  was  some  danger  that  the  mass  of  workers,  with  the 
memory  of  the  open-shop  drive  and  consequent  wage  reductions  to 
stir  them,  might  break  away  from  the  control  of  the  system  and 
unite  with  the  miners  and  shopmen  in  a  nationwide  protest.  There 
was  only  one  reliable  preventative  for  such  a  demonstration — the 
craft  system — and  it  did  not  fail  the  employers.  Indeed,  it  never 
does.  1 
THE  SYSTEM  PERMITS  BRIBERY 

At  the  very  outset,  although  the  maintenance-of-way  men  had 
voted  overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  striking  with  the  shopmen.  Presi- 
dent Grable  chose  to  disregard  the  mandate  of  the  rank  and  file  and 
refused  to  call  the  men  out  on  strike.  This  was  as  calamitous  as 
it  was  treacherous.  It  may  be  nothing  more  than  a  coincidence, 
and  may  not  mean  that  he  is  drawing  the  price  of  treason,  but 
Grable  has  since  been  appointed  as  one  of  the  members  of  the 
Railroad  Labor  Board. 

With  the  maintenance-of-way  men  withheld  by  their  own  or- 
ganization, and  the  other  organized  railroad  workmen  "function- 
ing as  usual,"  the  contest  resolved  itself  into  a  wearing  down  pro- 
cess, in  which,  in  spite  of  what  had  transpired,  advantage  still  re- 
mained with  the  shopmen.  There  were  manifestations  here  and 
there  among  the  members  of  the  other  railroad  unions  which  in- 
dicated that  the  men  in  the  ranks  would  have  preferred  to  join  the 
strike  than  to  assist  the  roads  by  continuing  at  work.  But  the  influ- 
ence of  the  unions  in  the  craft  system  was  strong  enough  to  keep 
them  at  work.  The  running  crews  at  several  division  points  re- 
fused to  handle  trains,  and  tho  they  did  this  under  other  pretexts, 
their  real  reason  was  their  unwillingness  to  act  as  strikebreakers, 
which  their  unions  would  compel  them  to  do.  There  was  a  delicate 
situation  at  such  times,  but  the  master  diplomats  of  the  craft  system 
were  equal  to  such  occf.sions  and  managed  to  prevent  the  possible 
general  railroad  strike  of  which  there  seemed  some  liklihood  more 
than  once. 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  "settlement*'  the  prospect  was  bright 
for  the  shopmen's  victory,  and  in  proportion  that  victory  for  the 
strikers  seemed  assured  the  capitalists  were  stirred  to  use  any 
means,  fair  or  foul,  to  break  the  solidarity  of  the  men. 

"OUR"  GOVERNMENT  SHOWS  ITS  COLOR 

The  government  took  a  hand  in  the  struggle  on  the  side  of  the 
roads.  The  machinery  of  the  Department  of  Justice  was  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  the  railroad  managers,  and  the  Attorney  General 
of  the  United  States,  Harry  M.  Daugherty,  applied  before  Judge 
Wilkerson,  a  recent  appointee  to  the  judgeship  made  vacant  by 
Judge  Landis'  resignation,  for  an  injunction  to  restrain  the  shop- 
men. Wilkerson  proved  himself  a  fittting  successor  to  the  labor- 
hating  Landis.    He  issued  the  injunction.    This  was  intended  to 

12 


intimidate  the  strikers  and  break  their  solidarity.  It  seems  to  have 
had  the  anticipated  and  desired  effect.  There  was  a  settlement 
made  by  the  A.  F.  of  L.  Railroad  Department  officials  with  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  railroad,  which  it  was  alleged,  would  be  made 
a  basic  agreement  by  which  all  the  other  roads  would  abide.  With 
the  signing  of  this  agreement  the  solidarity  which  had  marked  the 
strike  was  broken,  and  the  strike  disintegrated.  The  victory  which 
was  almost  within  the  grasp  of  the  shopmen  was  transformed  into 
a  victory  for  the  railroads.  The  craft  system  and  its  methods  had 
defeated  the  shopmen. 

The  actions  of  the  brotherhood  unions  in  the  1919  strike  of  the 
shopmen  were  in  keeping  with  their  conduct  in  times  of  crises  ever 
since  1877.  With  about  half  a  million  shopmen  and  laborers  out, 
any  manifestation  of  a  determination  to  extend  the  range  of  the 
strike  to  include  the  running  crews  would  have  assured  a  com- 
plete and  speedy  victory,  and  would  have  spared  the  strikers  and 
their  dependents  a  great  deal  of  the  suffering  which  the  protracted 
struggle  entailed.  Had  the  road  crews  been  free  to  do  that  which 
they  felt  to  be  their  duty  to  the  shopmen  in  this  emergency,  a  new 
page  would  have  been  written  into  American  labor  history  and  a 
new  era  opened  for  the  American  working  class.  But  the  craft 
system  operated  to  prevent  the  solidarity  that  would  have  brought 
victory  to  railroad  labor  and  demonstrated  to  the  working  class 
the  power  that  unity  is  capable  of  generating. 

CRAFT  SYSTEM  TESTED  AND  FOUND  ROTTEN 

The  actions  of  the  unions  embraced  in  the  craft  union  system 
have  always  corresponded  to  and  with  the  needs  of  the  employers. 
They  have  done  at  critical  times  what  would  best  serve  the  interest 
of  those  who  oppose  labor  in  strike  situations;  and  strikes  afford 
the  real  test  of  labor  organizations.  Seen  from  the  working  class 
viewpoint,  which  contemplates  classes  in  struggle,  the  craft  union 
system  presents  itself  as  a  capitalist  agency  by  and  through  which 
the  organized  workers  are  made  to  bend  to  the  end  and  carry  out 
the  wishes  of  the  employing  class.  The  1922  shopmen's  strike  was 
lost  because  of  this  system  with  its  servile  and  erroneous  concep- 
tions. The  lesson  it  teaches  is  that  while  the  working  class  of  the 
United  States  a.re  controlled  by  it,  America  will  remain  ''the  land 
of  lost  strkies." 

The  railroad  brotherhods  in  the  1920  strike  of  the  yardmen 
under  John  Granua  clearly  demonstrated  their  character  and  their 
usefulness  as  auxiliaries  to  the  railway  manager.  They  functioned 
to  prevent  the  spread  of  this  strike  and  saved  the  roads  from  em- 
barrasment  that  would  only  have  been  relieved  by  granting  of 
concessions  to  the  strikers.  The  grievances  which  this  strike  was 
called  to  remedy  were  real  and  were  so  recognized  by  railroad  men 
generally.  The  tactics  adopted  by  Granua  and  his  following  were 
also  generally  approved  and  considered  to  be  potentially  effective. 
The  chances  of  winning  were  in  favor  of  the  men  until  the  brother- 

13 


hood  unions  used  all  their  influence  to  defeat  the  strike,  and  proved  f 
beyond  a  shadow  of  a  doubt  their  character  as  railroad  agencies. 
From  their  earliest  records  down  to  the  present  time  the  railroad 
brotherhoods  have  functioned  conspicuously  in  behalf  of  railroad  j 
property,  doing  for  the  railroad  capitalists,  what  they  would  have  : 
been  unable  to  do  for  themselves  and  doing  to  the  railroad  working 
forces  what  the  capitalists,  unaided  by  these  unions,  could  never 
have  done  to  them.  Railroad  labor  is  held  hack  by  the  brotherhoods 
and  until  the  railroad  workers  realize  this  and  are  guided  by  it, 
there  will  be  no  progress  possible  for  them.  These  unions  because 
of  their  conceptions,  forms  and  methods  are  not  qualified  to  serve 
the  railroad  workers  and  can  only  function  to  serve  railroad  prop- 
erty at  the  expense  of  the  workers.  The  railroad  workers  are  thus 
organized  not  to  serve  themselves  but  to  serve  the  railroads  and  to 
defeat  themselves.  The  craft  system  must  go  before  the  workers 
can  come  into  their  own. 

METAL  MINERS  UNIONS 

The  metaliferous  miners  of  the  Coeur  d'Alene  country  struck 
in  1892  in  protest  against  a  series  of  wage  reductions  which  the 
mine  owners  attempted  to  justify  because  of  the  decline  in  the 
price  of  silver.  Strikebreakers  were  shipped  into  the  district,  and 
the  miners,  who  had  larmed  themselves,  drove  them  out  of  the  dis- 
trict. Thereupon  Federal  troops  were  sent  in,  upon  the  request 
of  the  governor.  The  miners  were  defeated,  but  they  learned  the 
lesson  of  their  successive  defeats. 

At  that  time  the  mine  working  forces  were  largely  composed 
of  an  adventurous  and  migratory  element,  and  were  leavened  with 
men  who  had  many  experiences  with  the  local  unions  which  pre- 
prevailed  in  the  mining  districts.  These  men  had  agitated  for  a 
solidification  of  the  unions  in  the  various  camps  and  the  Western 
Federation  of  Miners  resulted.  This  union  was  based  squarely 
upon  the  recognition  of  the  class  struggle  and  was  the  most  militant 
organization  in  the  whole  history  of  American  unionism.  It  fought 
the  battles  of  the  workers  in  the  metal  mining  industry  with  a  clear 
view  of  the  relationship  between  the  wage  workers  and  the  mine 
owners.   The  W.  F.  M.  was  the  mother  of  the  I.  W.  W. 

In  1905  the  W.  F.  M.  found  it  necessary  to  call  a  strike  of  the 
miners  and  the  mill  and  smeltermen  of  Colorado,  to  secure  the  en- 
forcement of  an  eight  hour  day  law  which  had  been  passed  by  the 
legislature,  and  endorsed  by  a  referendum  of  the  voters  of  Colorado. 

A  UNION  AT  BAY  AND  NO  HELP  GIVEN 

The  struggle  which  ensued  is  memorable  in  the  annals  of  labor. 
All  the  forces  of  the  state  government  which  should  have  been  used 
to  enforce  the  law,  were  employed  on  the  mine  owners'  side  of 
the  controversy.  The  state  militia  was  actually  hired  out  to  the 
mine  owners  and  a  reign  of  terror  was  instituted  in  the  mining 

14 


regions,  under  the  joint  auspices  of  the  mining  companies  and  the 
state  government.  Elected  officials  who  refused  to  do  the  bidding 
of  the  companies  were  desposed  under  threats  of  lynching;  laws 
were  violated  by  men  sworn  to  uphold  them;  the  state  and  na- 
tional constitutions  were  set  aside;  citizenship  rights  were  over- 
ridden and  the  rights  of  property  in  the  cases  of  strikers  and 
those  who  sympathized  with  them  were  disregared.  The  will  of 
"the  white-shirted  mob"  took  the  place  of  the  law;  and  disorder  to 
which  the  state  authorities  were  a  party  made  the  mining  regions 
unsafe  for  working  men  who  refused  to  scab  or  help  defeat  the 
miners. 

The  situation  developed  in  the  course  of  this  strike  constituted 
a  menace  not  only  to  labor  unions  but  to  republican  institutions. 
Yet,  held  in  the  grip  of  the  craft  union  system  the  organized  work- 
ers, outside  of  some  financial  support,  did  nothing  whatever  which 
would  help  the  miners  to  meet  and  cope  with  the  forces  that 
threatened  the  annihiliation  of  the  W.  F.  M.  and  menaced  the  fu- 
ture of  labor  organization.  It  should  have  been  plain  that  if  the 
labor-crushing  policy  adopted  against  the  W.  F.  M.  in  Colorado 
failed  to  win  a  protest  from  the  organized  labor  movement  that  the 
employers  would  be  encouraged  to  use  similar  methods  elsewhere 
and  against  other  organizations.  But  the  labor  unions  of  the  craft 
system  failed  to  take  warning  and  there  was  not  the  industrial  sup- 
port given  the  miners  which  would  have  checked  the  arrogance 
of  the  capitalists  and  won  the  attention  of  the  American  working 
class.  While  craft  unionism  and  its  ideas  dominate  there  will  be 
no  national  action  by  American  labor,  because  there  will  be  no 
national  movement  and  no  clear  conception  of  what  labor  owes  it- 
self and  what  is  possible  to  it.  The  Colorado  miners  were  defeated 
but  it  was  not  the  activities  of  the  mine  owners'  forces  that  beat 
them.  It  was  the  labor  indifference  and  passivity  which  the  craft 
system  encourages  and  seeks  to  perpetuate. 

CRAFT  IDEAS  IN  THE  COAL  FIELDS 

The  history  of  the  coal  miners  in  the  United  States  is  a  record 
of  struggle.  Time  after  time,  in  strike  after  strike,  the  coal  miners 
have  given  evidence  of  a  fighting  spirit  seldom  equaled  and  never 
surpassed  by  the  workers  in  any  other  industry.  But  their  will 
to  resist  oppression  has  never  found  organized  expression  on  a 
scale,  and  with  a  conception,  which  would  enable  them  to  protect 
themselves,  and  to  advance  their  interest  as  industrial  workers. 
The  history  of  America's  coal  mine  workers  is  as  sad  as  it  is  glor- 
ious. Their  efforts  to  achieve  national  unity  have  always  suffered 
defeat.  The  economic  ignorance  in  which  the  strivings  of  Amer- 
ican labor  have  been  lost,  affected  the  organizaaions  of  the  coal 
mine  workers,  and  placed  these  toilers  at  the  mercy  of  the  capi- 
talist schemers  who  misled  them  into  defeat  after  defeat.  The  most 
aggressive  and  sustained  attempts  of  the  coal  miners  have  never 
yet  scored  a  clear  cut  victory  for  them. 

15 


In  1891  the  coal  miners  were  selected  by  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor  to  strike  for  the  eight  hour  day,  on  May  1.  But 
just  preceding  that  date  the  miners  in  the  Connelsville  coke  region 
became  involved  in  a  strike.  Being  hard  pressed  they  requested 
the  A.  F.  of  L.  to  apply  the  eight  hour  assessment  to  aid  them  in 
this  struggle.  The  request  was  refused.  Standing  alone,  without 
financial  support  from  the  unions  with  which  it  was  affiliated  in 
the  A.  F.  of  L,  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America  lost  the  Con- 
nellsville  strike;  and  the  miners,  resenting  this  attitude  of  the 
sister  unions,  would  not  strike  for  the  eight  hour  day  that  year. 

The  craft  system  operated  to  defeat  the  miners  in  the  Con- 
nellsville  dispute  and  to  prevent  the  eight  hour  strike  by  the  miners 
which  might  have  had  the  effect  of  continuing  these  annual  at- 
tempts by  the  different  unions  to  establish  the  shorter  workday. 
With  this  failure  of  the  U.  M.  W.  of  A.,  the  A.  F.  of  L.  abandoned 
national  economic  attempts  and  degenerated  into  a  begging  leg- 
islation body,  without  an  economic  excuse  for  existence,  or  even 
a  pretence  of  industrial  usefulness  to  the  working  class. 

In  1892  the  coal  miners  of  Tennessee,  who  were  organized  in 
the  Knights  of  Labor,  seized  the  mines  and  released  the  convicts 
at  Tracy  City,  Inman  and  Coal  Creek,  having  defeated  and  dis- 
armed the  militia.  Eventually  the  Tennessee  miners  were  forced 
into  submission. 

CRAFT  PSYCHOLOGY  DEFEATS  ANTHRACITE  MINERS 

The  strike  of  the  anthracite  miners,  in  1902,  offers  a  striking 
example  of  how  the  craft  system  operates  to  prevent  the  solidarity 
upon  which  a  successful  outcome  in  strike  situations  can  only  be 
assured.  The  anthracite  miners  were  driven  to  a  point  where, 
without  industrial  support,  it  became  evident  that  defeat  was  in- 
evitable. In  this  emergency  appeals  were  made  to  and  pressure 
was  brought  to  bear  upon  the  administration  of  the  U.  M.  W.  of  A. 
to  call  the  bituminous  miners  out  on  strike.  John  Mitchell,  who 
was  then  president,  refused  to  consider  the  proposal,  upon  the 
ground  that  to  do  so  would  be  a  breach  of  the  contract  and  an 
evidence  of  bad  faith.  So  the  anthracite  miners,  abandoned  by 
their  fellow  coal  miners,  and  surrounded  by  other  organized  trades 
working  unconsciously  and  unwittingly  to  defeat  them,  lost  the 
strike.  The  U.  M.  W.  of  A.  rigidly  divided  the  mine  workers  and 
broke  faith  with  them,  to  keep  faith  with  the  operators.  The  in- 
fluence of  the  Civic  Federation,  reaching  thru  the  craft  system, 
dominated  the  labor  thought  of  the  U.  M.  W.  of  A.  The  direc- 
tion of  labor  was  controlled  by  the  enemies  of  labor. 

Only  the  more  important  of  the  coal  miners'  strikes  can  be 
touched  upon  in  the  scope  of  this  pamphlet,  so  that  the  1919  strike 
is  the  next  to  consider,  and  it  may  only  be  lightly  treated. 

During  the  World  war  the  miners  had  many  grievances  which, 
because  of  a  feeling  of  intense  patriotism,  they  had  been  reluctant 
to  press  to  a  successful  conclusion  while  the  United  States  was 


bending  every  effort  to  defeat  the  Central  Empires.  The  earning 
power  of  the  miners  had  suffered  with  the  increase  in  the  cost  of 
living  which  had  to  be  met.  As  a  result  of  the  national  effort  to 
recruit,  equip  and  maintain  an  army  of  adequate  proportions,  and 
because  of  their  own  experiences,  the  miners  were  thinking  in 
terms  of  national  expression,  ,and  were  impressed  with  the  need  for 
a  shorter  workday  and  work  week  so  that  their  working  time  would 
be  more  evenly  distributed  over  the  year.  A  national  agreement 
to  cover  all  coal  territory,  the  six-hour  day  and  the  five-day  week 
were  the  principal  demands  of  the  men.  The  response  to  the  strike 
order  was  splendid.  In  organized  coal  regions  production  was  en- 
tirely suspended.  This  strike  occurred  at  a  time  when  the  demand 
for  coal  was  brisk — in  November.  The  weather  was  intensely  cold 
and  the  power  of  the  miners  as  a  social  force  was  brought  home  to 
the  country,  but  the  U.  M.  W.  of  A.  was  not  clear  sighted  nor  mili- 
tant enough  to  press  the  advantage  which  the  organized  miners  un- 
questionably held. 

A  SYSTEM  THAT  DOES  NOT  RESIST 

The  government,  sensitive  to  anything  which  threatened  cap- 
italist property,  and  eager  to  protect  the  interests  of  the  capitalist 
class,  took  a  hand  in  the  struggle  on  the  side  of  the  mine  operators. 
Attorney  General  Palmer  applied  for  an  injunction  before  Judge 
Anderson  in  Indianapolis.  This  injunction  was  designed  to 
paralyze  all  the  strike  activities,  and,  by  tying  up  the  funds  of  the 
union,  to  prevent  relief  measure  that  would  have  enabled  the 
miners  to  hold  out.  The  injunction  was  granted.  The  officials  of 
the  Union,  instead  of  disregarding  and  defying  the  injunction,  per- 
mitted themselves  to  be  intimidated  by  it.  The  strike  was  called 
off.  Later  on  there  were  some  readjustments  in  tonnage  prices 
and  daily  and  monthly  wage  rates,  but  the  national  agreement,  six- 
hour  day  and  five-day  week  demands  of  the  mine  workers  were 
ignored.  A  potentially  successful  strike  had  been  sacrificed  upon 
I  the  altar  of  capitalist  interest  according  to  the  ritual  of  the  craft 
1  system.  In  the  1919  strike  was  finished  the  foundation  for  the 
'treachery  that  delivered  the  victorious  miners  into  the  hands  of 
their  industrial  enemies  in  1922. 

In  1922  the  strike  occured  on  April  1  instead  of  in  the  fall, 
as  :n  1919.  This  placed  the  miners  comparatively  at  a  disadvan- 
tage, as  the  busy  season  in  the  coal  industry  had  passed.  As  in 
the  preceding  strike,  the  main  demands  were  again,  the  national 
agreement,  the  six-hour  day  and  the  five-day  week.  These  were 
i  beyond  question  the  predominant  issues. 

J  At  the  very  outset  of  the  strike,  and  even  before  it,  the  neces- 
Uitv  of  railroad  co-operation  was  felt  by  the  miners.  This  need 
ithey  had  learned  from  many  previous  experiences.  A  meeting  of 
the  miners  officials  and  brotherhood  chiefs  was  arranged  for  and 
hold  in  Chicago,  before  the  strike  took  place.  This  was  intended 
to  head  off  agitation  by  the  radicals,"  for  it  was  recognized  by 

17 


t^.ose  who  took  part  in  it  that  under  the  craft  system  the  railroad 
unions  would  not  become  involved  industrially  to  assist  the  mine  , 
workers.     "Moral  support"   for  the  miners  was  pledged  byj 
representatives  of  the  brotherhood  unions.  This  was  nothing  more 
than  a  gesture,  and,  translated  into  industrial  terms,  meant  that, 
though  the  brotherhoods  were  satisfied  of  the  justice  of  the  miners'  | 
cause,  they  would  do  everything  in  their  power  to  defeat  them;  or,| 
at  ihe  very  best,  would  do  nothing  more  substantial  to  assist  them 
than  to  wish  them  well.    Such  a  conception  of  union  duty  runs 
agaiubi  the  logic  of  working  class  experience,  and  tends  to  delay 
the  recognition  that  must  eventually  come  to  all  labor,  that  the  in- 1 
terest  of  one  labor  classification  is  the  interest  of  all  labor  classifi- ! 
cations,  and  that  an  injury  to  one  set  of  workers  is  an  injury  to  the 
entire  working  class.    The  craft  system  is  arranged  to  deny  the 
class  character  of  production,  and  the  class  nature  of  the  struggle 
between  the  employers  and  the  wage  workers. 

While  the  creed  of  craft  unionism  is  accepted  by  the  organized 
workers,  union  memberships  on  strike  will  be  unable  to  see  that 
the  alleged  neutrality  of  associated  unions,  whose  members  remain 
at  work  in  contact  with,  and  assisting  the  scabs,  makes  them  in  fact 
and  deed,  lallies  of  the  employers.  This  the  organized  miners  of 
the  United  States  understand  more  clearly  than  perhaps  any  other 
workers  embraced  by  the  craft  union  system.  Their  industrial  sit- 
uation and  the  conditions  under  which  they  live  and  work  bring  a 
clearer  perception  to  them.  There  are  few  illusions  under 
which  capitalism  may  mask  itself  in  the  coal  fields. 

IT.  M.  W.  OF  A.  NOT  REALLY  INDUSTRIAL 

The  United  Mine  Workers  of  America  is  admirably  suited  to 
the  needs  of  the  operators  in  their  dealings  with  the  mine  workers, 
who  are  s^vayed  by  an  elemental  sense  of  right  and  justice;  and 
among  whom  the  instinct  of  class  interest  prevails  to  a  greater 
degree  than  among  other  workers.  The  U.  M.  W.  of  A  appears  toj 
supply  their  craving  for  unity  without  doing  so.  The  district  or- 
ganizations constitute  sectional  division  as  injurious  to  the  mine 
workers  as  the  division  by  crafts  is  in  other  industries.  This  di-| 
vision  of  the  U.  M.  W.  of  A  is  calculated  to  preserve  in  one  form  or 
another.  It  also  holds  the  mine  workers  to  the  acceptance  of  the 
idea  that  the  causes  of  which  they  complain  are  due  to  misunder- 
standings that  can  be  composed  by  conferences,  rather  than  to  the 
ar  tagonisms  which  naturally  arise  out  of  the  relationship  between 
employer  and  employes.  The  effect  of  such  a  doctrine  upon  strik- 
ing workers  tends  to  confine  their  efforts  to  forcing  a  truce  instead 
of  fighting  to  a  finish.  It  does  more,  for  it  blinds  the  workers  to! 
the  strike  as  a  social  potentiality.  In  this  more  than  in  anything 
else  lies  the  value  of  the  craft  system  to  the  employers.  The  craft\ 
system  takes  for  granted  the  incapacity  of  the  workers  to  manage  i 
industry  land,  in  this  and  other  things,  acknowledges  the  right  of  i 
the  capitalist  class  to  the  mastery  of  industry  and,  as  a  corollary,! 

18 


to  the  fruits  of  the  workers'  toil.  Only  that  this  doctrine  had  a 
substantial  foothold  in  the  U.  M.  W.  of  A.  jurisdiction  made  pos- 
sible the  debacle  that  sent  a  victorious  force  scurrying  back  to  the 
mines  in  1922. 

In  the  weeks  before  April  1  the  miners  worked  at  top  speed, 
and  records  for  "coal  sent  to  the  top"  were  broken  daily  with  a 
recklessness  which  betokened  that  the  miners  had  not  calculated, 
or  were  heedless  about  the  bearing  that  a  large  coal  surplus  would 
have  on  the  strike. 

On  April  1,  it  was  estimated  that  there  existed  a  surplus  coal 
stock  of  65,000,000  tons,  with  this  amount  and  the  estimated  pro- 
duction from  non-union  territory,  it  was  calculated  that  the  mine 
workers  would  be  starved  into  submission.  But  the  response  of 
the  unorganized  mine  workers  to  the  strike  call  upset  all  esti- 
mates. In  a  short  time  it  became  evident  that  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  defeat  the  miners  in  a  contest  of  endurance.  The  output 
of  non-union  mines  decreased  visibly,  and  the  surplus  millions  of 
tons  began  to  shrink,  still  the  miners  not  only  held  their  original 
strength,  but  were  adding  to  it.  The  65,000,000  tons  had 
dwindled  to  bushels,  bins  were  being  scraped  and  coal  yards  swept 
clean,  when  the  capitalist  class  awakened  to  the  seriousness  of  the 
crisis.  The  industrial  interests  which  were  backing  the  operators 
saw  a  fuel  situation  arising  that  spelled  disaster  for  them  and  they 
were  anxious  to  see  an  end  to  the  strike.  Their  enthusiasm  for  the 
operators'  side  of  the  controversy  cooled  rapidly.  They  wanted  a 
coal  supply,  and  the  miners  who  were  on  strike  were  the  only  ones 
who  could  guarantee  that.  To  get  the  men  back  in  the  working 
places  was  the  problem  that  confronted  American  capitalism.  The 
strike  was  no  longer  an  issue  between  the  mine  workers  and  the 
operators,  it  had  become  a  social  question  of  fundamental  import- 
ance. The  politicians  in  Washington  were  willing  enough  to  do 
what  they  could,  but  the  Department  of  Justice  and  the  War  De- 
partment were  not  qualified  to  serve  successfully  in  this  kind  of 
an  emergency— they  could  not  mine  coal. 

THE  U.  M.  W  SAVES  CAPITALISM 

The  press  thundered  for  a  settlement  of  the  nations*  fuel  prob- 
lem, reflecting  the  uneasiness  of  the  class  for  which  it  spoke.  And 
there  was  reason  for  the  uneasiness.  Railroad  coal  stocks  were 
depleted  to  a  point  where  transportation  was  threatened.  The  pro- 
duction which  trickled  from  the  non-union  mines  was  hopelessly 
inadequate  for  the  national  needs.  In  the  face  of  a  fuel  famine 
there  was  indeed  cause  for  alarm.  The  objective  for  which  the 
miners  had  sacrificed  had  been  attained.  The  hour  had  struck  for 
ithem  to  dictate  to  the  operators  the  terms  of  surrender.  Then,  if 
ever,  the  value  of  the  U.  M.  W.  of  A.  was  to  be  tested.  The  Cleve- 
land conference  was  arranged.  When  it  was  over  the  value  of  the 
United  Mine  Workers  had  indeed  been  tested — it  proved  to  be  of 
great  value  to  the  operators.  The  victory  won  decisively  in  the  coal 

19 


camps  was  forfeited  over  the  conference  table.  The  miners  won  in 
industry;  they  lost  in  negotiation.  Only  the  operators  were  repre- 
sented in  the  conference.  When  will  the  miner  wake  up  to  this 
fact? 

The  principal  operators  refused  to  attend  the  Cleveland  con- 
ference, and  such  employer  representation  as  was  present  did  not 
represent  more  than  a  mere  fraction  of  the  mine  owners. 

With  every  advantage  on  their  side  the  mine  workers  confer- 
ence dropped  the  main  demands — (1)  the  six-hour  day  and  five-day 
week;  and  (2)  the  national  agreement.  Of  course  the  latter  was 
not  possible,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  operators  represented  did 
not  include  the  powerful  coal  interests.  Nevertheless,  with  the 
knowledge  that  such  was  the  case  when  the  terms  were  arranged 
in  Cleveland,  the  announcement  was  made  that  national  agreement 
had  been  reached.  This  was  welcome  news  to  the  ears  of  the  strik- 
ing mine  workers  and  their  dependents.  The  incentive  to  win 
which  had  inspired  and  supported  them  gave  way  to  a  desire  to 
return  to  the  mines  in  the  enjoyments  of  the  benefits  which  they 
imagined  had  been  secured.  There  was  a  rush  for  the  mines,  and 
where  the  men  could  get  back,  they  returned  to  work.  The  strike 
was  broken. 

The  national  agreement  proved  to  be  a  hoax.  There  was  no  na- 
tional agreement.  Each  district  had  to  arrange  its  own  terms  as 
best  it  could.  In  some  districts,  where  the  U.  M.  W.  of  A.  was 
weak,  the  mine  workers  found  it  impossible  to  effect  an  agreement, 
and  they  had  to  continue  striking,  nothwithstanding  that  the  Cleve- 
land conference  had  consumated  a  "national"  agreement.  Only 
when  the  time  came  to  cash  in  on  their  "victory"  did  they  discover 
that  they  won  only  a  goldbrick.  The  treason  of  Cleveland  is  the 
labor  crime  of  the  century. 

U.  M.  W.  OF  A.  ABANDONS  NEW  MEMBERS 

A  pitifully  conspicuous  example  of  the  treachery  and  heart-i 
lessness  wrapped  up  in  the  Cleveland  "national  agreement"  is  af- 
forded in  the  treatment  accorded  the  mine  workers  of  Fayette 
County,  Pa.  The  men  in  this  region  had  been  unorganized  previous 
to  the  strike,  and  were  among  those  whose  accession  to  the  ranks  of 
the  strikers  turned  the  tide  of  battle  in  favor  of  the  mine  workers. 
Their  behaviour  all  thru  had  been  equal  to  every  test.  They  hadl 
covered  themselves  with  honor.  They  were  left  to  shift  for  them- 
selves, betrayed  and  abandoned  by  the  organization  upon  which 
they  depended  and  in  which  they  trusted.  Were  there  no  other 
counts  against  the  actions  of  the  U.  M.  W.  of  A.  than  this  desertion 
of  the  Fayette  County  miners,  that  would  suffice  to  bring  it  under 
suspicion  and  into  contempt.  But  when  it  is  considered  that  it  pro- 
vided for  the  continuation  of  the  district  division  from  which  the  j 
mine  workers  were  striving  to  escape ;  and  that  it  relinquished  the 
shorter  day  and  week  demands  at  a  time  and  under  conditions 
when,  if  ever,  there  was  a  good  chance  to  secure  these,  it  made  it 

20 


self-evident  that  the  interest  which  the  U.  M.  W.  of  A.  was  con- 
cerned about  conserving,  was  not  that  of  the  coal  miners  but  of  the 
coal  operators. 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  mention  that  the  organization  of 
unorganized  territory  was  primarily  an  achievement  of  the  rank 
and  file  from  whom  the  strike  won  a  sort  of  religious  devotion.  The 
men  spread  over  adjacent  non-union  territory  with  missionary 
zeal ;  appealed  to  their  fellow  slaves  of  the  underground  to  join  the 
revolt.  Of  course  as  they  made  headway  the  officials  had  no  option 
but  to  take  command.  It  was  a  rank  and  file  fight  from  April  1 
until  the  Cleveland  conspiracy  was  arranged.  The  leadership  of  the 
strike  was  neither  sincere  nor  competent,  unless  it  vfas  in  the  inter- 
est of  the  operators.  The  open  wrangling  of  the  officials  more  than 
once  threatened  to  smash  the  solidarity  of  the  men.  The  expul- 
sion of  Alex.  Howatt  and  the  Kansas  district  tended  to  weaken  the 
union  on  the  eve  of  the  strike.  The  line  of  demarcation  between 
the  administration  followers  and  the  militants  was  emphasized  by 
the  action  taken  with  regard  to  Howatt.  In  the  days  of  prepara- 
tion, and  right  through  the  strike  up  to  the  enactment  of  the  Cleve- 
land treason  the  men  who  control  the  U.  M.  W.  of  A.  for  the  oper- 
ators left  themselves  open  to  suspicion.  The  union  did  not  intend  to 
win  the  strike  but  the  members  did.  The  non-union  workers  who 
threw  their  lot  in  with  the  strikers  were  the  deciding  factor.  They 
brought  about  the  condition  with  which  neither  the  operators  nor 
their  union  tools  were  prepared  to  deal.  The  men  could  not  be 
beaten,  so  they  had  to  be  betrayed.  And  they  were. 

Outside  of  the  mines  the  organized  workers  handled  and  used 
coal  without  regard  to  source  from  which  it  originated.  Union  rail- 
road men  hauled  cars  to  and  from  the  mines  that  were  in  opera- 
tion, even  though  they  recognized  that  in  helping  to  supply  coal 
they  were  helping  to  defeat  the  miners.  Here  was  the  situation: 
the  railroad  men  aided  the  production  that  the  miners  were  en- 
deavoring to  suspend.  The  craft  system  kept  the  organizations 
working  at  cross  purposes.  It  is  designed  to  do  so.  It  sets  union 
against  union,  for  while  one  union  is  on  strike  and  another  con- 
tinues at  work  assisting  the  strikebreakers,  it  is  aligned  with  the 
employer  no  matter  what  its  labor  professions  may  be.  The 
sympathy  of  labor  is  expressed  in  action  and  not  in  words.  The 
railroaders  and  those  union  men  who  handled  coal  while  the  miners 
strike  was  on  were  as  guilty  of  strikebreaking  as  were  the  spine- 
less wretches  who  went  into  the  mines.  The  craft  system  is  or- 
ganized scabbery.  Every  union  in  it  is  potentially  a  strikebreaking 
agency.  It  functions  to  compel  men,  who  would  otherwise  refuse, 
to  remain  at  work  in  struck  employments.  Participation  in  the 
miners*  strike  by  organized  workers  in  contact  with  the  coal,  would 
have  helped  to  win  the  strike  in  a  short  time  and  have  spared  the 
miners  and  their  families  much  suffering.  But  the  craft  system 
condemned  to  fight  alone,  and  under  its  regulations  they  were  be- 
trayed when  they  could  not  be  defeated.  But  the  experience  gained, 
added  to  previous  similar  experiences,  has  loosened  the  grip  of  the 

21 


U.  M.  W.  of  A.  upon  the  coal  industry  and  its  workers.  The  recog- 
nition spreads  among  the  mine  workers  that  the  operators  had 
their  way,  not  in  spite  of  the  union,  but  because  of  it.  A  new 
conception  grows  among  the  mine  workers  of  America. 

THE  GREAT  LAWRENCE  STRIKE 

The  historic  strike  of  the  textile  workers  in  Lawrence,  Mass., 
under  the  banner  of  the  I.  W.  W.  is  one  of  the  greatest  events  in 
American  labor  history. 

This  memorable  struggle  was  precipitated,  when  the  textile 
employers,  because  of  a  state  law,  which  reduced  the  weekly  work- 
ing time  from  56  to  54  hours,  deducted  two  hours  pay  from  the 
operatives  who  were  affected  by  this  legislation.  The  amounts 
involved  were  only  trifling,  but  they  were  taken  out  of  pay  en- 
velopes which  were  already  hopelessly  inadequate.  The  shortened 
wages  and  L  W.  W.  agitation  organized  this  strike,  which  emptied 
the  textile  mills  of  Lawrence. 

From  the  very  first  the  activities  of  the  unions  in  the  craft 
system  were  directed  to  undermine  the  strike,  in  order  to  discredit 
the  L  W.  W.  The  United  Textile  Workers'  Union  under  the  late 
John  Golden,  lent  itself  to  accomplish  the  defeat  of  the  textile 
workers;  the  Central  Labor  Union  of  Lawrence  used  its  prestige 
to  destroy  the  organized  resistance  of  the  mill  workers,  until  it 
discredited  itself  with  even  its  own  affiliations. 

The  outrages  committeed  lagainst  the  strikers  were  not  only  con- 
doned but  endorsed  by  the  local  A.  F.  of  L.  officials  and  Golden, 
who  volunteered  assistance  to  repress  the  "lawlessness"  of  the  I. 
W.  W.  Never  before  was  the  capitalist  character  of  the  A.  F.  of 
L.  so  openly  and  shamelessly  exhibited.  Attempts  were  made  to 
organize  the  more  skilled  classifications  among  the  strikers  into 
craft  unions,  and  to  arrange  settlements  for  these  witn  the  textile 
companies,  thus  brealcing  the  solidarity  of  the  workers — a  con- 
summation devoutly  desired  by  the  Woolen  Trust. 

A  RAID  BY  THE  A.  F.  OF  L. 

To  sustain  the  strikers,  whose  low  wages  made  their  indi- 
vidual resources  slender,  and  the  newness  of  the  organization,  made 
a  treasury  impossible,  it  was  necessary  to  appeal  for  finance  to 
sympathetic  elements  throughout  the  United  States.  The  response 
was  generous,  and  helped  greatly  to  stiffen  the  resistance  of  the 
strikers.  Naturally,  the  textile  companies  were  mortified  when  it 
became  evident  that  the  working  class  of  the  country  was  aroused 
to  the  point  that  the  Lawrence  strikers  would  not  be  forced  back 
into  the  mills  because  of  hunger.  Money,  food  and  clothing  flowed 
into  Lawrence  in  a  steady  stream.  The  manufacturers  could  not 
stop  this  support  from  the  outside,  but  they  could  diminish  it  by 
diverting  some  of  it  into  channels  that  would  render  it  unavailable 
for  the  strikers.  The  machinery  of  the  A.  F.  of  L.  unions  was  used 
for  this  purpose.  John  Golden,  whose  union  did  not  have  a  member 

22 


in  Lawrence,  and  the  president  of  the  C.  L.  U.,  issued  circulars  ap- 
pealing for  funds  to  aid  the  strikers  to  all  the  Central  Labor  Unions 
in  the  United  States  and  Canada.  So  rank  a  policy  won  the  con- 
demnation of  many  of  the  craft  unions.  The  Ironmolders'  Union 
of  Lawrence  denounced  mis  treachery  of  Golden  and  C.  L.  U.,  as 
did  the  Boston  Central  Labor  Union.  Even  the  Central  Federated 
Union  of  New  York  City  condemned  this  attempt  to  aid  the  textile 
barons.  As  Leslie  Marcy  remarked,  in  an  article  in  the  Interna- 
tional Socialist  Review  at  the  time,  "What  Golden  did  was  merely 
in  accord  with  the  policy  and  doings  of  the  A.  F.  of  L."  The  craft 
system  can  only  serve  the  employers.  Marcy  was  in  close  touch 
with  the  strike  and  his  accounts  of  it  are  more  than  ordinarily  re- 
liable, so  that  when  we  find  him  stating  that,  "All  over  the  country, 
local  A.  F.  of  L.  unions  have  denounced  Golden  and  his  official 
friends,  and  the  rank  and  file  of  the  A.  F.  of  L.  has  gone  on  record 
solidly  in  favor  of  their  class  and  against  their  officials." 

But  inasmuch  as  these  officials  were  "acting  in  accord  with 
the  policy  and  doings  of  the  official  A.  F.  of  L.,  the  actions  of  the 
local  unions  and  central  bodies  were  in  effect  a  condemnation  of  the 
craft  system,  because  what  transpired  in  Lawrence,  and  in  con- 
nection with  the  Lawrence  strike,  has  marked  the  conduct  of  the 
system  in  every  important  labor  situation  that  has  arisen  since  the 
A.  F.  of  L.  has  dominated  in  American  labor  affairs.  In  paren- 
thesis, it  might  be  mentioned  that  when  the  I.  W.  W.  in  Goldfield 
had  secured  the  eight-hour  day  for  every  labor  group  in  that  city 
it  was  the  A.  F.  of  L.  which  conducted  the  campaign  that  resulted 
in  the  loss  of  the  short  workday  and  the  re-establishment  of  ten 
and  twelve  hours  as  the  daily  working  time.  In  McKees  Rocks, 
Patterson,  Akron,  in  fact  wherever  the  workers  have  fought  under 
the  I.  W.  W.,  the  craft  system>  unions  have  done  everything  possible 
to  prevent  success. 

The  tactics  employed  by  the  1.  W.  W.  in  this  strike  smashed 
many  of  the  old  union  traditions  to  smithereens.  As  each  new  de- 
velopment demonstrated  the  power  of  the  new  conception  the  pros- 
titute press  and  the  prostituted  craft  system  spokesman  became 
poisonously  slanderous;  the  church  organizations  lent  themselves 
readily  and  eagerly  to  propaganda  in  the  interest  of  the  employ- 
ers; the  city  and  state  authorities,  thus  encouraged,  instituted  a 
campaign  of  ruthlessness  in  which  every  human  consideration  and 
every  constitutional  right  of  the  strikers  was  ignored.  But  the 
strike  animated  by  the  I.  W.  W.  ideals  was  not  to  be  broken,  and 
the  fighting  tactics  employed  kept  the  working  class  of  the  country 
awake  and  alert  as  well  as  keeping  the  morale  of  the  strikers  at 
a  high  pitch.  When  stationary  picketing  was  put  under  the  ban, 
mass  picketing  was  adopted,  and  the  processions  of  thousands  of 
workers  daily  kept  up  the  spirit  of  the  men  and  women  and  ef- 
fectively silenced  the  machinery  of  the  mills.  The  mills  were  empty 
and  the  streets  were  crowded  with  a  cheering,  singing  mass  of 
strikers.  Strikebreaking  was  impossible  under  these  circumstances. 


23 


CRAFT  UNIONS  WOULD  STARVE  CHILDREN 


When,  to  relieve  the  pressure  of  strike  relief  and  to  adver- 
tise in  outside  places  the  undernourishec^  condition  of  the  strikers, 
it  was  decided  to  send  the  children  to  friends  in  other  cities  who 
would  care  for  them  pending  the  close  of  the  strike,  the  textile 
barons  through  their  politicals  sought  to  prevent  the  children  going 
away.  The  police  and  militia  met  the  Philadelphia  delegation  at  the 
railway  station  and  women  and  children  were  clubbed  and  beaten 
and  then  arrested.  The  A.  F.  of  L.  condoned  this  outrage  and  in 
doing  so  furnished  evidence  of  the  capital  character  of  the  craft 
system.  Through  the  strike  the  craft  union  leaders  were  among  the 
more  active  and  dangerous  enemies  of  the  striking  textile  workers. 
Golden  is  on  record  as  proclaiming  that  the  companies  would  find 
it  more  advantageous  to  deal  with  the  A.  F.  of  L.  than  with  revolu- 
tionary I.  W.  W.  The  companies  surely  would  have  preferred  to 
do  so  but  the  textile  workers  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  A. 
F.  of  L.  and  because  there  was  nothing,  nor  no  one  to  deliver,  Gol- 
den and  the  A.  F.  of  L.  had  to  be  used  in  other  ways.   They  were. 

The  Lawrence  strike  was  won  decisively.  Wages  were  in- 
creased from  5  per  cent  to  25  per  cent,  putting  more  than  $5,000,000 
per  year  additional  into  the  pay  envelopes  of  the  textile  workers. 

Nor  was  the  effect  of  the  strike  only  local.  Says  Marcy : 

"The  strike  in  Lawrence  has  had  far-reaching  effects.  As  a  direct 
result  of  the  strike  wages  in  practically  every  mill  in  New  England 
have  been  increased.  In  Lowell,  when  the  I.  W.  W.  sent  organizers 
into  the  city,  the  bosses  rushed  to  give  their  workers  an  increase  of 
five  per  cent. 

"Already  substantial  increases  in  their  wages  have  been  accorded  in 

Fall  Elver    25,000  employes 

Nashua    3,500  employes 

Chicope    1,800  employes 

Waltham   1,500  employes 

Holyoke   1,400  employes 

Salmon  Falls,  N.  B   800  employes 

North  Adams   600  employes 

Greenville,  N.  H   400  employes 

Worcester   300  employes 

and  many  other  cities. 

"The  increase  in  wages  in  no  case  falls  below  five  per  cent.  For  the 
lowest  paid  workers  it  will  range  from  15  to  25  per  cent." 

In  Lawrence  the  long  record  of  American  labor  defeats  was 
broken,  but  it  was  done  by  a  new  organization  inspired  by  a  new 
union  ideal,  and  guided  by  a  new  conception,  which  engaged  neuA 
forms  and  employed  netv  tactics.  The  I.  W.  W.  in  the  Lawrence 
strike  pointed  out  to  labor  the  way  in  tvhich  to  redeem  itself,  and 
craft  unionism  showed  itself  beyond  peradvanture  as  anti-labor  in 
design,  character  and  action. 

24 


The  lesson  of  Lawrence  is  that  industrial  solidarity  by  the 
workers  is  equal  to  their  every  economic  need.  It  was  the  greatest 
labor  experiment  of  decades  and  a  brilliant  success,  in  spite  of  the 
handicaps  under  which  it  was  conducted.  The  concern  of  the  cap- 
italists of  America  has  been  to  prevent  labor  from  learning  what 
Lawrence  teaches,  and  they  have  found  the  craft  system  their  most 
powerful  agency  in  accomplishing  this.  Every  means,  contempt- 
ible, despicable  and  treacherous,  have  been  used  by  the  craft  system 
and  employers  to  keep  the  working  class  of  America  in  ignorance 
about  the  Lawrence  strike  and  the  organization  which  conducted 
it  so  successfully. 

*'By  their  fruits  shall  ye  know  them.'' 

CRAFT  UNIONISM  AND  BUILDING  WORKERS 

From  earliest  times  it  has  been  a  fixed  policy  with  the  employ- 
ers to  eliminate  unionism  as  an  influence  in  industry,  and  thus  to 
preserve  to  themselves  autocratic  rulership  over  their  employes. 
Even  of  the  craft  system,  which  has  served  them  so  well,  they  stand 
in  dread.  They  recognize  that  in  its  failures  and  defeats  there 
abides  a  lesson  which  labor  will  learn  eventually.  They  fear  the 
rise  of  an  industrial  organization  with  which  they  will  be  unable 
to  cope.  Therefore  whenever  the  time  seemed  opportune  they  have 
declared  war  upon  labor  unions  of  every  kind  and  description. 

Following  the  World  War  the  capitalist  class  of  the  United 
States  started  an  open  shop  drive  all  over  the  country.  Their  pur- 
pose was  to  strip  labor  of  every  means  of  protection,  and  then  prey 
upon  a  working  class  which  would  be  helpless.  The  deflation  of 
wages  was  an  accompaniment  of  this  drive.  There  has  been  con- 
ducted an  extensive  and  carefully  arranged  propaganda  campaign, 
which  was  intended  to  impress  the  workers  that  wages  were  ex- 
travagantly and  unreasonably  high.  And,  unfortunately,  the  work- 
ers were  to  an  unbelievable  extent  so  impressed.  Some  craft  unions 
voted  reductions  for  their  memberships,  and  as  a  means  of  work- 
ing class  resistance  the  craft  union  system  proved  a  great  disap- 
pointment even  to  those  who  understood  its  makeup  and  workings. 
Here  was  a  national  emergency  which  the  organized  workers  recog- 
nized, as  such,  but  there  was  no  national  labor  medium  with  which 
the  general  attack  might  be  countered.  In  the  A.  F.  of  L.  and  the 
railroad  unions — the  craft  system — labor  could  find  no  national  ex- 
pression. It  has  not  yet  dawned  upon  most  of  the  sincere  men  in 
each  of  these  camps  that  the  system  is  designed  to  prevent  an 
economic  national  expression,  nor  do  most  of  them  appreciate  that 
the  open-shop  campaign  found  its  greatest  reinforcement  in  the 
craft  system. 

OPEN  SHOPPERS  DEFEAT  CRAFTS 

Organized  and  unorganized  workers  alike  looked  to,  and  de- 
pended upon,  the  leaders  of  the  craft  system  to  meet  the  attack  of 
the  open  shoppers  with  all  the  strength  that  the  organized  labor 

25 


movement  could  muster.  This  not  only  was  not  done  but  in  the  in- 
stances where  local  unions  offered  resistance  the  attempts  were 
discouraged,  and  in  some  cases  outlawed.  The  autonomy  which  is 
the  cardinal  principle  of  the  system,  and  the  cornerstone  of  division, 
operated  to  bind  the  unionized  workers  so  that  conquest  by  the  anti- 
labor  forces  was  made  easy.  It  is  an  open  secret  that  were  it  not 
for  the  craft  union  system  the  open  shop  fight  would  have  been 
a  much  harder  affair  for  its  managers  than  it  turned  out  to  be. 
Only  the  division  to  which  the  system  is  committed  made  progress 
possible  for  the  enemies  of  labor. 

In  San  Francisco,  New  York,  Chicago  and  other  cities,  where 
the  rank  and  file  union  men  sought  to  break  the  bonds  that  held 
them  helpless  the  machinery  of  the  craft  system  was  set  in  opera- 
tion to  bend  or  break  them.  Alignments  and  strikes  that  did  not 
accord  with  craft  union  conceptions  were  "outlawed"  in  the  interest 
of  the  system  which  in  the  final  analysis  is  the  interest  of  the  em- 
ployers. ''Divide  and  conquer"  has  always  been  the  slogan  of  rul- 
ers; and  those  who  achieve  and  maintain  division  and  make  con- 
quest easy  are  always  the  agents  of  the  ruling  power.  The  craft 
system  is  no  exception.  This  is  what  union  men  must  learn  and 
be  guided  by. 

From  the  very  beginning  of  the  open-shop  war  its  class  char- 
acter was  evident.  Everyone  who  understood  anything  about  the 
labor  movement  was  aware  of  that,  but  those  who  controlled  the 
craft  system  refused  to  admit  this  to  be  the  case.  And  if  there 
bad  been  made  such  acknowledgment  it  would  have  involved  a 
simultaneous  statement  that  the  working  class  of  America  were 
without  an  economic  weapon  with  which  to  combat  the  employers' 
forces — the  organization  bankruptcy  of  American  labor  would  of 
necessity  have  to  be  declared.  The  craft  system  cannot  be  expected 
to  denounce  itself.  The  workers  must  attend  to  that. 

The  infamous  Landis  Award  is  typical  of  craft  union  pro- 
cedure and  serves  to  show  the  menace  the  craft  system  holds  for 
labor,  to  those  who  are  willing  to  see  it.  The  policy  of  submitting 
industrial  disputes  to  outside  parties  on  the  presumption  that  com- 
mittees or  persons  selected  as  arbitrators  are  neutral  and  un- 
prejudiced is  as  ludicrous  as  it  is  dangerous.  Moreover  when  men 
like  Landis,  who  as  judge  sentenced  radicals  to  such  sentences  as 
were  imposed  upon  the  I.  W.  W.  prisoners,  can  be  regarded  as  im- 
impartial  there  does  not  seem  to  have  been  either  care  or  judgment 
used  by  those  who  presumed  to  accept  him  in  the  name  of  labor. 
There  was  submitted  to  Landis  as  arbitrator,  only  the  question  of 
wages,  but  his  award  covered  all  the  terms  in  the  relationship  be- 
tween the  building  trades  and  the  building  contractors.  This  impar- 
tial ( ?)  and  neutral  ( ?)  gentleman  extended  his  jurisdiction  to  suit 
the  employers.  There  is  little  question  that  this  award  would  never 
have  been  submitted  unless  there  had  been  some  assurance  given 
that  some  of  the  unions  were  so  controlled  as  to  accept  it.  The 
award  was  Dredicated  upon  division  among  the  building  unions. 
They  divided.   Some  accepted  the  award  and  some  others  rejected 


26 


it,  and  so  long  as  some  were  bound  by  it  and  others  refused  to  be 
bound  by  it,  it  was  possible  to  install  it  to  some  degree  in  the  Chi- 
cago building  industry.  Since  that  time,  the  different  unions  have 
been  at  daggers'  points  and  solidarity  among  the  workers  in  the 
industry  there  has  been  impossible,  and  hostility  and  bad  feeling  be- 
tween the  union  members  has  resulted. 

CRAFT  SYSTEM  TREACHERY  IN  CHICAGO  BUILDING 

TRADES 

Into  this  breach  jumped  the  Building  Trades  Department  of 
the  A.  F.  of  L.,  but,  instead  of  bringing  unity  or  laying  the  basis 
upon  which  it  might  be  secured,  John  Donlin  and  the  official 
group  aligned  themselves  with  the  labor-hating,  anti-union  Citizens' 
committee  for  the  enforcement  of  the  Landis  Award.  This  con- 
duct, although  quite  in  keeping  with  craft  system  policy  and  custom, 
has  intensified  the  hostility  between  the  factions  and  bred  resent- 
ment against  the  A.  F.  of  L.  dictatorship.  Between  the  ''regulars" 
who  accept  the  Landis  award,  and  the  ''outlaws"  who  reject  it,  the 
feeling  is  more  bitter  than  toward  the  plain  everyday  scabs.  These 
are  more  readily  tolerated  by  the  "regulars"  than  are  the  "out- 
laws" and  they  are  more  acceptable  to  the  "outlaws"  than  they  are 
to  the  "regulars"  who  have  violated  every  principle  that  has 
hitherto  guided  and  carried  forward  the  organized  building  work- 
men in  Chicago.   Such  are  the  fruits  of  the  craft  system. 

Recently  the  Bricklayers'  union  signed  a  contract  with  Chicago 
contractors  which  binds  it  to  disregard  the  grievances  of  all  other 
workers  where  they  are  employed.  Hereafter  "the  bricklayers  will 
go  it  alone."  They  are  back  to  where  the  building  trades  were 
one  hundred  years  ago.  Some  of  the  other  unions  also  have  signed 
similar  agreements.  It  is  because  of  this  that  the  threatened  gen- 
eral strike  of  building  workers  did  not  take  place  on  June  1,  al- 
though the  members  of  the  regular  unions  favor  it  as  much  as  the 
members  of  the  outlaw  unions  do.  The  system  still  grips  them 
though  its  hold  is  weakening. 

Noth withstanding  the  evidence  there  are  those  who  still  believe 
that  the  craft  system  is  a  labor  agency;  that  its  machinery  can  be 
used  to  advance  the  working  class  interest.  Verily,  as  Barnum 
said,  "they  like  to  be  humbugged."  But  as  Abraham  Lincoln  re- 
marked, "You  cannot  fool  all  of  the  people  all  of  the  time."  The 
signs  are  not  lacking  which  show  that  the  day  is  at  hand  that  will 
mark  the  passing  of  the  craft  system  and  the  advent  of  an  organi- 
zation which  will  organize  by  industries  along  class  lines,  and  be 
guided  by  the  knowledge  that  the  war  of  the  classes  is  a  struggle  in 
which  arbitration  is  a  poor  substitute  for  solidarity  and  the  power 
it  generates 

THE  FIRST  ORGANIZATIONS 

The  strike  of  the  Boston  House  Carpenters  in  1825,  was  en- 
tered upon  for  the  double  purpose  of  establishing  the  ten-hour  day 
and  raising  the  wages  of  the  carpenters.    Something  slightly  less 

27 


than  1,000  men  were  involved.  In  the  Boston  of  that  time,  such  a 
large  number  of  mechanics  constituted  a  strike  of  great  propor- 
tions, yet  it  ended  in  an  overwhelming  defeat  for  the  carpenters. 

None  of  the  other  building  trades  came  to  their  assistance  in- 
dustrially. Some  of  them  may  have  contributed  finance,  though  we 
are  not  aware  that  they  did  so.  This  was  then  a  general  custom 
with  the  organized  trades,  as  a  means  of  assisting  striking  fellow 
workers.  However,  none  of  the  building  mechanics  struck  in  sup- 
port of  the  carpenters,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  employers  in 
all  the  industries  rallied  to  aid  the  master  builders.  The  united 
employers  had  recourse  to  propaganda  which  did  not  differ  mater- 
ially from  that  which  is  being  put  out  by  the  employers  of  the 
present  day.  The  virtue  of  industrious  application  by  employes 
was  set  forth  with  emphasis ;  the  moral  danger  lurking  in  idle  time 
for  wage  earners  was  religiously  pointed  out;  and  the  patriotism 
of  the  wol-kers  was  invoked  to  offset  the  ^'foreign  agitation"  which 
threatened  to  undermine  the  proverbial  diligence  ''of  the  sturdy 
sons  of  New  England." 

The  carpenters  had  based  their  plea  for  a  reduction  of  hours 
upon  patriotic  and  humanitarian  grounds  and  confidently  expected 
to  win  public  support  for  their  cause.  The  workers  had  yet  to 
learn  that  strikes  are  not  decided  upon  abstract  principles,  but  by 
the  exercise  of  power.   Of  course  the  carpenters  were  disappointed. 

The  employers,  on  the  other  hand,  cherished  no  illusions,  and 
while  they,  too,  resorted  to  propaganda,  it  was  only  to  justify  the 
extreme  measures  they  adopted  to  defeat  the  carpenters.  It  was 
decided  that,  if  it  was  found  necessary  to  defeat  the  carpenters  and 
destroy  their  union,  no  buildings  would  be  erected.  They  deter- 
mined that  the  men  would  accept  terms  dictated  by  them. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  business  elements,  called  following  the 
inauguration  of  the  strike,  it  was  resolved  to  support  the  master 
builders  ''at  whatever  sacrifice  or  inconvenience,  and,  to  this  end, 
extend  the  time  for  the  fulfillment  of  their  contracts,  and  even 
to  suspend  building  altogether,  if  necessary." 

Here  is  illustrated  the  readiness  with  which  the  employers 
perceive  the  rise  of  a  dangerous  power  and  the  promptness  with 
which  they  act  on  behalf  of  their  own  interest.  This  manifestation 
by  the  carpenters  they  regarded  as  a  danger  signal,  and  they  acted 
accordingly.  They  were  aware  that  a  successful  outcome  of  this 
strike  would  offer  encouragement  to  other  wage  workers  to  or- 
ganize and  make  demands,  so  they  lost  no  time  in  getting  together 
and  making  common  cause  with  the  master  builders. 

ONE  CRAFT— STANDING  ALONE 

How  different  was  the  passivity  of  the  workers,  with  this  evi- 
dence of  the  employers  spirit  before  them,  is  indicated  by  the  fact 
that  the  carpenters  alone  bore  the  weight  of  the  united  attack  by 
the  employers  of  Boston.  In  their  fear  the  workers  were  unable  to 
appreciate  that  their  industrial  support  would  have  turned  the  tide 

28 


on  behalf  of  the  carpenters,  and  thus  have  made  possible  for  them- 
selves the  securing  of  the  betterments  for  which  the  carpenters 
were  contending;  and  that  the  answer  to  the  employer's  combina- 
tion is  employe  solidarity.  Their  indifference,  or  misunderstanding, 
and  the  aloofness  growing  out  of  it,  lost  the  Boston  situation  for  the 
carpenters  and  opportunity  for  the  working  class  as  a  whole. 

The  points  involved  in  this  dispute — hours  and  wages — were 
of  vital  importance  to  all  other  workers  as  well  as  the  carpenters. 
The  issue  was  really  a  class  issue,  a  fact  to  which  the  employers 
were  keenly  alive,  though  its  significance  apparently  was  lost  to  the 
workers.  In  the  defeat  of  the  carpenters  there  must  have  come  to 
these  others  some  faint  recognition  of  a  setback  for  their  own  am- 
bitions and  hopes.  A  reduction  of  hours  was  desired,  even  coveted 
by  the  workers  in  every  trade  and  calling,  and  they  witnessed  the 
postponement  of  its  realization,  without  ever  suspecting  that  the  re- 
sponsibility lay  with  themselves.  Even  so  it  is  still  today,  not- 
withstanding that  all  past  experience  goes  to  emphasize  the  losses 
incurred  by  labor  through  this  weakness  in  the  structure  of  its  or- 
ganizations. If  experience  is  a  good  teacher,  there  can  be  little 
question  that  the  American  unionists  are  very  slow  scholars. 

The  Boston  strike  is  typical  of  the  strikes  of  that  period  in 
American  labor  history.  Most  of  the  strikes  were  lost  because  all 
such  efforts  were  made  along  lines  that  compelled  the  strikers  to 
fight,  alone  and  unsupported,  against  all  the  opposition  that  the 
united  employers  could  array  against  them. 

These  successive  failures  bred  a  tendency  to  doubt  the  efficacy 
of  economic  organization,  and  inclined  the  workers  to  seek  other 
means  and  other  fields  to  achieve  their  aims.  It  appears  never  to 
have  struck  these  early  unionists,  rigidly  set  as  they  were  in  their 
craft  consciousness,  that  the  repeated  failures  were  due  not  to  the 
economic  organizations,  but  to  the  manner  in  which  these  were 
constructed  and  used. 

So,  when  the  politicians  appeared  with  programs  that  seemed 
to  possess  the  virtues  of  ease  and  security,  it  was  comparitively  easy 
to  induce  those  who  had  made  strike  sacrifices  in  vain,  and  those 
who  had  witnessed  the  failures,  to  attempt  reform  through  politics. 

There  is  not  lacking  evidence  that  there  were  some  among  the 
workers  in  these  times  who  saw  the  necessity  for  working  class 
unity.  Such  organizations  as  *'The  New  England  Association  of 
Mechanics,  Farmers  and  Other  Working  People"  could  only  have 
been  brought  into  existence  by  those  who  saw  the  necessity  of 
united  class  action.  But  the  important  thing  for  us  to  consider, 
equally  with  the  birth  of  such  an  organization,  is  the  manner  and 
means  by  which  its  destruction  was  encompassed.  And  we  find 
that  politics  was  responsible  for  its  death. 


29 


A  ONE  BIG  UNION  IN  1830 


This  union  had  many  weaknesses,  such  as  admitting  employ- 
ers who  were  themselves  actively  engaged  in  industry,  but  it  held 
the  germ  of  working  class  unity,  and  was  therefore  a  great  labor 
potentiality.  It  was  the  very  kind  of  organization  of  which  the 
Boston  employers  stood  in  dread,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  manifesto 
issued  by  them,  which  said : 

"If  this  confederacy  should  be  countenanced  by  the  community,  it 

must,  of  consequence,  extend  and  embrace  all  the  workers  in  every 

department  in  Town  and  Country." 

A  union  to  embrace  all  the  workers  in  town  and  country !  That 
was  what  the  bosses  saw  in  1825,  that  the  workers  needed;  and 
they  feared  that  the  workers  would  supply  that  need.  That  is  what 
the  workers  have  needed  ever  since.  It  is  also  what  the  workers 
have  not  yet  gotten.  The  workers  are  still  where  the  employers 
want  them  to  be,  in  the  manner  of  organization.  The  interests  of 
employers  have  been  well  served  by  American  unionism.  What  hap- 
pened in  the  strike  of  the  Boston  carpenters  is  still  happening  to- 
day where  craft  unionism  holds  sway,  which  is  the  principal  rea- 
son why  strikes  are  lost. 

Today y  as  in  that  olden  time,  the  tvorkers  are  being  urged  to 
political  action  as  a  remedy  for  unio7i  weakness.  There  is  little 
recognition  that  a  resort  to  politics  is  a  confession  of  the  complete 
failure  of  craft  unionism  in  its  particular  field.  As  in  the  days  of 
the  Boston  strike,  this  failure  is  due  to  the  division-breeding  form 
of  modern  craft  unionism.  What  is  needed  is  unionism  that  will 
include  all  the  wage  workers  in  all  the  industries,  in  town  and 
country,  in  one  solid  organization,  where,  by  controlling  their  labor 
power,  they  will  control  society  and  dictate  the  terms  of  their  serv- 
ice. The  use  of  their  power  as  workers,  and  not  as  citizens,  is  the 
instrumentality  upon  which  the  proletariat  must  rely.  Once  or- 
ganized along  class  lines,  they  can  command  that  power,  and,  at  all 
times,  exert  sufficient  pressure  for  their  purposes. 

THE  MECHANICS  UNION 

In  the  strike  of  the  Mechanics'  Union  of  Trade  Associations  for 
the  ten-hour  day  in  Philadelphia,  in  1835,  we  are  presented  with  a 
strike  form  in  keeping  with  the  experience  of  the  earlier  unions. 
And,  by  the  way,  this  union  was  formed  after  the  utter  collapse  of 
the  political  movement  into  which  its  predecessor  had  been  led.  The 
union  men  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore  and  other  cities 
were  convinced  that  politics  were  detrimental  to  the  economic  or- 
ganizations of  labor ;  and  that  single  trade  strikes  were  condemned 
to  failure. 

As  to  how  these  things  were  regarded  the  following  quotation 
from  the  National  Laborer  will  show : 

"We  declare  that  the  Trades'  Union  is  not  political  (we  mean  by 
political  anything  relating  to  Party  politics),  either  in  its  nature  or 

80 


operations.  It  is  a  social  compact,  formed  of  Societies  and  Associa- 
tions of  Mechanics  and  Workingmen,  which,  having  discovered  that 
they  were  unable  singly  to  combat  the  numerous  powers  arrayed 
against  them,  united  together  for  mutual  protection." 

It  would  appear  to  be  evident  from  this  that  these  unions  were 
resolved  to  confine  their  efforts  to  economic  action.  That  there  is, 
indeed,  no  room  for  doubt  upon  this  score  is  proved  by  another 
reason  advanced  in  the  same  statement,  that  ''the  Trades"  union 
never  will  be  political  because  its  members  have  learned  from  ex- 
perience, that  the  introduction  of  Politics  into  their  Societies  has 
thwarted  every  effort  to  ameliorate  their  conditions."  The  experi- 
ences of  the  unionists  with  politics  had  been  recent  enough  at  that 
time  to  be  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  workers.  They  were,  or 
thought  that  they  were  through  with  politics. 

The  reorganization  of  the  Mechanics'  Union  had  been  effected 
in  1833,  when  the  political  movement  had  collapsed,  but  the  de- 
pression which  prevailed  made  it  unwise  to  attempt  any  sweeping 
labor  reform  immediately.  The  depression  continued  during  1834 
and  this  year  was  also  regarded  as  unpropitious.  The  union,  how- 
ever, carried  on  an  intensive  campaign  of  agitation  and  organiza- 
tion. 

In  1835,  with  the  lifting  (to  some  extent)  of  the  depression, 
the  decision  to  strike  was  made,  and  in  June  sixteen  societies  drop- 
ped their  tools  simultaneously. 

The  strike  lasted  less  than  three  weeks,  and  the  historian  re- 
lates that  "the  union  gained  in  prestige  and  in  strength." 

This  union,  a  local  central  body,  endeavored  to  organize  the 
workers  in  every  calling  into  trade  societies,  and  to  unite  these  in 
itself  for  combined  action.  Its  effectiveness  is  proven  by  the  short- 
ness of  the  strike  and  its  sweeping  success.  That  this  was  due  to 
the  more  or  less  general  suspension  which  resulted  from  the  joint 
action  of  the  members  of  so  many  societies  is  beyond  question. 

Had  these  Philadelphia  workmen  attempted  to  gain  the  con- 
cessions as  individual  trades,  as  did  the  Boston  carpenters  ten  years 
previously,  they  would  have  failed  as  dismally.  With  the  extent  of 
solidarity  achieved  by  the  Mechanics'  Union  in  this  strike  the  unity 
of  the  Employers  was  undermined,  and  each  was  thinking  of  his 
own  industrial  survival. 

AN  EARLY  EXAMPLE  OF  SOLIDARITY. 

That  the  new  form  of  unionism,  expressed  by  this  central 
body,  was  guided  by  a  genuine  labor  spirit  is  vouched  for  by  its 
action  in  the  case  of  the  dock  workers  and  coal  heavers  of  Phil- 
adelphia, who,  because  of  a  strike,  found  themselves  the  victims  of 
persecution  at  the  hands  of  the  city  authorities.  Although  these 
strikers  were  not  at  the  time  affiliated  with  it,  the  Mechanics' 
Union  took  up  their  cause  and  pushed  their  case  to  a  successful 
conclusion.  There  was  a  display  of  earnestness  and  a  desire  for 
working  class  solidarity  about  this  union  which  marks  it  as  a  re- 

31 


markably  progressive  body  at  a  time  when  labor  was  neither  mili- 
tant nor  class  conscious. 

The  Mechanics'  Union  also  exhibited  in  its  proclamations 
some  perception  of  the  class  struggle  as  such,  tho  Marx  and  Engles 
had  not  yet  enunicated  their  theory  or  supplied  the  term.  One 
declaration  was  to  the  effect  that  it  recognized  an  inclusive,  co- 
ordinated, organization  "as  the  last  hope  of  the  Mechanic  and 
Laborer,  knowing  that  if  the  aristocracy  could  sever  the  link  which 
now  binds  them  together,  every  trade  society  would  be  attacked, 
and  would  sink  in  its  turn  beneath  the  corrupting  influence  of 
wealth  and  avarice.'* 

When  it  is  considered  that  the  great  majority  of  the  workers 
at  this  time  were  illiterate,  and  neither  thinkers  nor  students,  and 
that  they  were  without  the  experience  which  only  time  could  fur- 
nish, the  sense  of  class  interest  and  the  militancy  displayed  by  this 
union  is  truly  remarkable. 

The  form  of  union  here  developed  was  admirably  suited  to  the 
workers'  needs  when  industrial  enterprises  and  their  ownership 
were  localized.  These  general  unions,  had  they  been  preserved, 
would  have  enabled  the  workers  to  adapt  their  organizations  and 
themselves  to  the  changes  which  have  since  come  in  the  technique, 
operation  and  control  of  industry. 

Unions  of  this  type  constituted  the  hope  of  the  workers  and  the 
fear  of  the  capitalists  of  that  period.  With  the  coming  of  the  panic 
of  1837,  and  the  spread  of  unemployment  as  a  consequence  of  it, 
the  Mechanics*  Union  was  lost  to  the  workers.  It  had  demonstrat- 
ed, however,  that  the  greater  the  degree  of  unity  among  the  work- 
ers, the  greater  the  possibilities  open  to  labor.  It  marked  a  long 
step  in  advance  of  the  decade  before. 

MUCH  CLASS  CONSCIOUSNESS 

The  number  of  lost  strikes  with  which  the  early  labor  history  of 
the  American  workers  is  dotted  may  be  attributed  to  the  apparent 
inability  of  the  union  to  draw  a  clear  line  of  distinction  between  the 
workers  and  their  employers.  There  is  still  to  be  noticed  among  the 
wage  workers  a  survival  of  this  shortsightedness.  Men  who  will 
not  hesitate  about  making  demands  upon  a  large  corporation  are 
loth  to  make  similar  demands  upon  a  small  contractor  or  farmer. 
The  labor  movement  must,  in  order  to  fulfill  its  mission,  see  the 
wage  relationship  as  a  social  and  industrial  line  of  cleavage.  The 
wage-workers — sellers  of  labor  poiver — are  engaged  in  a  struggle 
with  the  buyers  of  labor  power — the  employers — and  they  can  only 
discriminate  betweefi  them  at  the  cost  of  peril  to  themselves.  The 
problems  of  the  wage  earners  working  for  a  small  employer  are 
identical  with  those  of  the  working  forces  in  big  establishments. 

A  circular  issued  in  connection  with  one  of  the  early  American 
strikes  stated  that  "we  would  not  be  too  severe  on  our  employers, 
(because)  they  are  slaves  to  the  capitalists  *  *  *  But  we  cannot  be 
servants  to  servants  and  slaves  to  oppression,  let  the  source  be 

32 


where  it  may/'  Here  is  an  open  avowal  of  an  unwillingness  to  be 
S:uided  by  the  facts  of  industrial  experiences  which  were  brought 
home  to  ihom  on  every  job  evtry  day.  Ihere  is  this  to  be  allowed 
on  behalf  of  the  workers  of  that  time,  that  the  contractor  was  often 
one  oif  themselves  on  previous  jobs,  so  that  it  was  difficult  for  them 
to  perceive  that  the  possession  of  the  contract  established  a  new 
and  different  relationship,  which  set  them  at  odds  industrially.  In 
the  labor  movement,  as  a  labor  instrumentallity,  there  must  be  no 
feeling  of  friendship  for  any  of  the  opposing  employers,  any  more 
than  there  should  be  fraternizing  between  parts  of  two  armies  in 
the  field.  This  is  a  weakness  of  which  the  labor  unions  of  today, 
dominated  by  the  idea  that  the  interest  of  the  employer  and  em- 
ploye are  identical,  have  not  yet  been  cleared.  The  toleration  of 
this  feeling  by  unions  tend  to  weaken  their  strike  efforts  and  brings 
about  their  defeat. 

Weak  employers  are  prone  to  assume  an  attitude  of  friendli- 
ness to  unions.  Where  the  workers  are  not  class  conscious  this 
posture  wins  a  friendly  opinion  from  them  and  in  times  of  crisis 
they  are  inclined  to  risk  success  by  obliging  some  "good  fellow.^'  In 
this  connection  it  is  not  out  of  place  to  remark  that  the  first  job 
filled  by  returned  union  men  is  a  greater  threat  to  strike  solidarity 
than  an  establishment  manned  by  scabs.  This,  also,  the  modern 
craft  unionists  have  to  learn  and  act  upon. 

A  LESSON  OFTEN  TAUGHT  BUT  NOT  LEARNED 

Men  now  remark,  regretfully,  that  even  after  the  strike  of  the 
Mechanics'  Union  in  Philadelphia  had  demonstrated  that  the 
greater  the  solidarity  displayed  by  the  workers  in  strikes  the 
greater  the  possibilities  and  probabilities  of  success,  the  workers 
of  that  time  had  not  learned  the  lesson.  But  in  our  time  we  have 
had  many  experiences  of  our  own,  and  those  of  preceding  genera- 
tions as  well,  and  we  have  not  made  any  progress  beyond  the  work- 
ers of  those  days.  At  least  in  those  days  division  was  not  or- 
ganized as  it  is  today  by  the  craft  system,  where  there  are  not 
even  crafts. 

In  strikes  of  the  present  day  we  find  less  of  labor  solidarity 
manifested  than  marked  some  of  the  early  strikes  in  the  United 
States,  when  the  labor  movement  was  without  experience,  and  the 
sources  of  information  for  the  workers  were  non-existant,  in 
comparison  with  what  is  available  in  our  time.  Only  economic 
ignorance,  in  which  even  the  most  intelligent  and  farseeing  of  the 
workers  were  befogged,  prevented  the  development  which  would 
have  kept  the  labor  movement  abreast  of  the  times  and  made  labor 
competent  to  advance  its  interest  as  American  industry  evolved 
to  new  stages  and  took  on  new  forms.  In  American  industry  the 
labor  movement  alone  has  stood  still. 

Co-operation  and  politics  were  two  factors  that  helped  to  kill 
off  nearly  all  promising  movements  among  the  workers  of  Amer- 
ica. Neither  of  these  is  a  legitimate  function  of  a  labor  union,  and 

33 


the  result  of  their  adoption  have  always  been  disastrous.  At  one 
time  it  was  customary  for  unions  on  strike  to  form  co-operatives 
and  go  into  competition  with  the  employers.  Such  attempts  proved 
to  be  a  succession  of  failures. 

Politics,  another  capitalist  idea,  has  done  to  death  every 
economic  movement  upon  which  it  succeeded  in  fastening  itself. 
I  While  politics  and  co-operation  shared  the  thought  and  activities 
of  the  unions  there  is  little  to  record  but  lost  strikes.  For  it  is  a 
cardinal  policy  of  the  politicians  to  see  nothing  wrong  about  the 
existing  union  organizations  that  they  set  out  to  use.  Likewise  it 
is,  also  the  policy  of  co-operators  not  to  antagonize  the  sources  from 
or  through  which  they  expect  to  raise  capital.  These  are  two 
dissipations  that  no  economic  organization  can  afford. 

MORE  AND  MORE  STRIKES 

Following  the  Civil  War  strikes  were  frequent.  Many  of  them 
were  in  resistance  to  wage  reductions,  and  resulted  in  failure, 
almost  without  exception. 

In  the  textile  industry  in  Massachusetts,  and  more  particularly 
around  Fall  River,  the  operatives  sought  to  resist  wage  cuts  (1873- 
80),  but  unavailingly.  French,  Canadian  and  other  immigrants 
were  imported,  and  the  resistance  of  the  native  textile  workers 
was  broken  upon  this  cheaper  competition. 

The  miners  also  struck  to  resist  wage  reductions.  It  was  in 
connection  with  those  strikes  that  the  ''joint  agreement"  between 
the  coal  operators  and  organized  miners  was  first  experimented 
with.  However,  a  break  having  occurred  in  the  ranks  of  the 
operators,  the  miners  took  advantage  of  this  division  to  repudiate 
it.  It  was  discarded  at  that  time  and  only  revived  about  ten  years 
later. 

It  had  been  expected  that  this  form  of  agreement  would  prove 
a  stabilizing  force  in  the  industry,  but  the  miners  were  of  the 
opinion  that  advantage  had  been  taken  of  them.  Hence  their  re- 
fusal to  abide  by  the  contract.  Had  the  operators  preserved  their 
unity  the  agreement  in  all  likelihood  would  have  stood,  but,  when 
one  company  expressed  its  intention  to  concede  to  the  miners  a 
great  deal  more  than  the  agreement  allowed,  the  miners  in  other 
camps  became  so  discontented  and  restless  that  the  agreement  was 
set  aside,  and  the  other  operators  met  the  concessions  offered  by 
the  unassociated  employers. 

Out  of  the  miners'  (long)  strike,  December  1874  to  June, 
1875,  there  came  into  unenviable  prominence  the  Molly  Maguires. 
Nothwithstanding  the  evil  reputation  given  the  Mollies  by  hostile 
and  unscrupulous  propagandists,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe 
that  they  were  nothing  more  than  a  militant  labor  group  among  the 
Irish,  who  constituted  the  dominant  nationality  among  the  mine 
workers. 

In  the  light  of  the  outrageously  false  propaganda  directed 
against  militant  labor  organizations  and  personalities  at  the  present 

34 


time,  it  is  comparatively  easy  to  appreciate  that  many  of  the  crimes 
charged  against  Molly  Maguires  were  likely  fictitious,  as  are  the 
crimes  charged  against  labor  militants  today.  The  motive  for 
blackening  the  reputation  of  the  Mollies  is  apparent  in  looking 
backward —  they  were  a  body  of  progressive,  determined  men  who 
sought  to  advance  and  safeguard  the  interests  of  the  mine  work- 
ers with  the  means  available.  To  this  end  they  sought  to  keep  alive 
the  fighting  spirit  of  their  fellow  workers.  They  went  into  politics 
to  seize  the  strategic  offices,  and  to  function  in  these  places  on  be- 
half of  the  slaves  of  anthracite.  No  wonder  the  coal  barons  were  at 
pains  to  eliminate  them  as  a  labor  factor. 

A  wretch  from  Philadelphia,  James  McParland,  was  sent  by 
the  operators  into  the  coal  fields  in  the  capacity  of  labor  spy  and 
agent  provocateur — the  first  recorded  case  in  American  labor 
history.  It  was  his  business,  as  the  coal  operators  agent,  to  or- 
ganize riots  and  to  incite  murder.  His  mission  was  the  perversion 
of  the  labor  movement.  He  fulfilled  the  expectations  of  these  who 
employed  him. 

McParland  traded  upon  his  Irish  nationality  to  win  the  con- 
fidence and  to  betray  his  fellow  countrymen;  and  he  used  his  re- 
ligious profession  to  place  the  feet  of  confiding  and  enthusiastic 
men  in  the  pathway  that  led  to  the  gallows.  The  labor  movement 
has  since  been  cursed  with  his  morally  depraved  type  to  whom 
treachery,  perjury,  murder  and  arson  are  all  in  the  day's  work. 

SOMETHING  LIKE  INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM 

The  great  railroad  strike  of  1877  is  one  of  the  outstanding 
events  in  American  labor  history.  It  was  in  this  strike  that  the 
forces  of  the  federal  army  were  first  used  in  strike  situations.  It 
was  in  preparation  for  this  strike  also  that  an  idea  approaching 
modern  industrial  unionism  was  first  advanced — The  Trainmen's 
Union. 

The  principal  railroads,  following  the  lead  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad,  reduced  the  wages  of  the  railroad  employes  ten  per  cent. 
When,  later  on,  another  ten  per  cent  wage  cut  was  instituted,  there 
resulted  widespread  dissatisfaction  and  discontent  among  the  rail- 
road men. 

The  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers,  the  only  organiza- 
tion with  any  numerical  strength  in  the  railroad  industry,  sent  a 
committee  to  confer  with  the  president  of  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road, Thomas  A.  Scott.  This  committee  accepted  Scott's'  explana- 
tion and  his  promise  that  "as  soon  as  things  picked  up"  the  old 
wages  would  be  restored. 

The  other  trainmen  were  displeased  with  and  suspicious  of  the 
engineer  committee  action,  and,  under  the  leadership  of  a  young 
brakeman,  Robert  Ammon,  set  about  the  organization  of  an  in- 
clusive union  which  would  take  in  all  the  road  crews — engineers, 
firemen,  conductors,  brakemen  and  switchmen.  They  aimed  to 
bring  the  running  crews  and  yardmen  into  a  solid  organization, 

35 


for  unity  in  aggression  and  defense.  The  new  idea  caught  and  the 
Trainmen's  Union  made  rapid  headway  on  the  P.  R.  R.;  B.  &  0.; 
Erie ;  The  Atlantic  and  Great  Western  and  other  roads. 

It  was  intended  to  call  the  general  strike  at  noon,  on  June  27, 
1877.  What  happened  is  worth  noting:  Forty  men  were  to  have 
been  despatched  from  Pittsburg  to  notify  the  various  divisions 
when  the  strike  signal  was  given,  but — division  occurred  at  a  meet- 
ing on  the  night  preceeding  the  day  set.''  As  a  result  "a  portion  of 
the  leaders  went  west  proclaiming  that  the  strike  would  not  be 
declared." 

This  statement  assumes  great  significance  when  taken  in  con- 
nection with  the  fact  that  the  engineers  on  the  P.  S.  R.  had  prepared 
to  strike  in  April,  but — 

"President  Gowen,  encouraged  by  his  successful  operations  against  the 
Molly  Magiiires,  and  fearing  the  strike  by  his  locomotive  engineers, 
ordered  them  to  withdraw  from  the  Brotherhood.  They  reluctantly 
submitted,  but  prepared  to  surprise  the  (railroad)  officials  by  a  sud- 
den strike  on  April  14.  This  plan  was  frustrated,  however,  through 
the  activity  of  Pinkerton  detectives,  and  the  railroad,  by  securing  a 
sufficient  number  of  strikebreakers  to  take  the  places  of  the  men, 
were  fully  prepared  for  the  event.'* 

Here  we  see  the  wholesale  employment  of  labor  spies  in  the 
B.  of  L.  E.,  as  early  as  1877.  Under  cover  of  union  loyality,  they 
were  at  work,  undermining  the  organization  and  defeating  the 
purposes  of  their  fellow  workmen  on  the  eve  of  a  strike  that  was 
intended  to  stave  off  starvation  which  the  second  wage  reduction 
threatened  to  bring  the  railroad  men.  It  is  but  natural  to  speculate 
whether  some  of  these  gentry  were  not  responsible  for  the  discus- 
sion ''on  the  night  preceding  the  day  set"  for  the  strike  by  the 
Trainmen's  Union. 

All  the  precautions  taken  by  the  railroads  could  not  stop  the 
coming  of  the  strike.  The  conditions  in  railroad  employment 
were  such  that  the  men  were  ready  to  assume  any  risk  rather  than 
endure  them. 

HALF-HEARTED  CO-OPERATION  OF  ENGINEERS 

The  strike  broke  on  the  B.  &  0.  at  Martensburg,  West  Vir- 
ginia, on  July  17,  the  day  after  the  second  ten  per  cent  reduction 
went  into  effect.  The  B.  of  L.  E.  refused  to  participate,  but  the 
engineers  "only  made  half  hearted  attempts  to  move  the  trains." 

The  local  state  militia  was  called  out,  but  as  the  troops  were 
in  sympathy  with  the  strikers,  President  Hayes  was  appealed  to, 
and  federal  soldiers  were  dispatched  to  the  scene. 

The  strike  spread  like  wildfire  all  over  the  B.  &  0.  and  at 
Baltimore,  Md.,  the  strikers  and  their  sympathizers  besieged  the 
militia  in  the  armories,  until  the  arrival  of  the  federal  forces. 

In  and  around  Pittsburgh  the  strike  feeling  ran  at  high  tide, 
and  the  coming  of  the  militia  was  the  signal  for  a  protest  by  the 

36 


workingmen  of  the  city,  without  regard  to  whether  they  were 
railroad  men  or  not.  The  Philadelphia  militia  was  driven  out  of 
the  city  after  killing  26  persons  and  wounding  many  others. 

The  strike  took  in  all  the  railroads  and  was  in  effect  in  New 
York,  Toledo,  Louisville  Chicago,  St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco. 

Commons'  history,  commenting  upon  this  strike  says: 

"The  strike  failed  in  every  case,  but  the  moral  effect  was  enor- 
mous. For  the  first  time  a  general  strike  movement  swept  the 
country  ***  ***  The  inefficiency  of  the  militia  showed  the  need  of 
a  reliable  basis  of  operation  for  the  troops,  and  the  construction  of 
numerous  and  strong  armories  dates  from  1877.  "The  courts  be- 
gan to  change  their  attitude  toward  labor  unions;  the  strikes  and 
riots  brought  back  from  oblivion  the  doctrine  of  malicious  conspir- 
acy as  applied  to  labor  organizations.  The  legislature  in  many 
states  enacted  conspiracy  laws  directed  against  labor.  But  the 
strongest  moral  effect  was  upon  the  wage  earning  class.  The  spirit 
of  labor  solidarity  was  strengthened  and  made  national.  *  *  *  On 
the  side  of  the  trade  union  organizations  the  effect  of  the  strike  ap- 
pears to  have  been  more  remote.  Nevertheless,  it  can  safely  be 
stated  that  there  was  a  direct  connection  between  the  active  coming 
forth  of  the  unskilled  during  the  strike  and  the  attempts,  so  largely 
secret,  that  were  made  immediately  after,  to  organize  this  class  of 
labor." 

There  is  to  be  noted  about  this  strike : 

(1)  That  it  was  spontaneous.  None  of  the  existing  organizations 
on  the  railroads  had  authorized  it. 

(2)  That  there  was  brought  out  in  connection  with  it  the  class 
spirit  of  labor,  which  always  will  be  evident  where  there  are 
no  capitalist-controlled  labor  organizations  to  shackle  and  re- 
strain it. 

(3)  That  the  strongest  of  the  railroad  unions,  the  B.  of  L.  E.  re- 
frained from  participating.  Such  engineers  as  joined  the 
strikes  had  to  disregard  the  official  attitude  to  do  so. 

(4)  "The  effect  upon  the  trade  unions  was  remote." 

(5)  That  the  unskilled  (and  little  skilled  workers)  were  hearten- 
ed to  attempt  organization. 

In  the  1877  railroad  strike  the  treachery  of  the  Brotherhood 
of  Locomotive  Engineers  serves  to  illustrate  how  the  conception  of 
the  wage  relationship  which  dominates  a  labor  organization  in- 
fluences its  actions.  With  the  B.  of  L.  E.  labor  grievances  have  no 
class  significance  nor  any  significance  whatever  unless,  forsooth, 
they  be  engineer  grievances.  Then  they  become  questions  in 
which  the  whole  railroad  labor  force  should  be  interested,  pro- 
vided the  engineers  by  themselves  cannot  secure  a  satisfactory 
settlement.  To  the  B.  of  L.  E.  there  is  nothing  objectionable  in 
the  wage  relationship.  It  is  a  rightful  enough  arrangement,  only 
sometimes  some  of  its  terms  need  to  be  altered.     Insofar  as  the 

37 


engineers  are  concerned,  their  working  affairs  are  separate,  apart 
and  distinct  from  those  of  all  other  working  groups  in  the  railroad 
industry.  This  is  the  industrial  creed  of  the  engineers  as  enun- 
ciated by  the  B.  of  L.  E. 

CRAFT  TRAINING  DULLS  CLASS  CONSCIOUSNESS 

That  what  they  regard  as  their  particular  grievances  have  all 
the  earmarks,  and  share  all  the  characteristics  common  to  those 
of  the  other  railroad  groups,  appears  to  have  no  meaning  for  them. 
Such  is  the  result  of  B.  of  L.  E.  training  under  the  supervision  of 
the  railroad  managers.  And  this,  unfortunately  is  typical  of  the 
attitude  of  most  of  the  craft  unions. 

In  1877  the  organized  engineers  alone  could  not  perceive  what 
Ammon  and  his  following  saw  very  clearly — that  the  occasion  de- 
manded a  solidarity  which  such  unions  as  the  B.  of  L.  E.  land  the 
0.  R.  C.  denied.  It  has  been  said  that  the  engineers  were  in 
sympathy  with  the  strikers,  so  that  ''they  made  only  half  hearted 
attempts  to  move  the  trains."  That  might  be  called  half  hearted 
sympathy.  The  important  point  is  that  they  continued  on  the  job 
after  the  other  railroad  workers  had  gone  out  on  strike.  They 
may  not  have  relished  their  work,  but  they  did  it.  If  they  were 
really  in  sympathy  with  the  strike  effort,  and  disinclined  to  enact 
the  role  of  strikebreakers,  it  is  pertinent  to  ask:  Why  did  they 
act  so?  And  the  answer  is  that  they  were  induced,  or  compelled 
to  do  so  by  the  B.  of  L.  E.  That  organization  made  scabs  of  its 
members  in  1877.  It  is  peculiar  that  organized  workers  are  suc- 
cessfully held  on  the  job  in  strike  situations  when  every  prompt- 
ing of  instinct,  and  every  suggestion  of  reason  counsels  that  they 
would  serve  themselves  better  by  joining  the  strike.  Yet,  in  every 
situation  where  unions  strike,  under  the  craft  union  system,  men 
who  realize  that  they  are  performing  the  functions  of  strike- 
breakers can  be  held  at  work  by  their  unions*  decrees.  If  nothing 
else  were  forthcoming  this  in  itself  should  make  manifest  the 
capitalist  control  of  unions  in  the  craft  system.  Such  unions  hold 
and  control  the  organized  workers  in  the  interest  of  capitalist 
property. 

In  the  1877  railroad  strike,  and  other  later  occasions,  the 
actions  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers  appear  to 
lustify  P.  M.  Arthur's  statement  that  "the  B.  of  L.  E.  is  not  a  labor 
union."  As  Grand  Chief  Engineer,  which  he  was  at  the  time  this 
remark  is  alleged  to  have  been  made,  Arthur  was  in  a  position  to 
know  and  to  speak  with  authority. 

When,  in  1864,  W.  D.  Robinson  was  framed,  and  a  tool  of  the 
New  York  Central  &  Hudson  River  Railroad,  Charles  Wilson,  was 
selected  to  succeed  him,  as  head  of  the  B.  of  I^.  E.,  the  organiza- 
tion was  placed  under  the  control  of  the  American  Railroad  As- 
sociation, and  has  ever  since  remained  under  the  domination  of 
the  railroad  managers. 

Under  Robinson,  who  was  a  labor  enthusiast,  the  B.  of  L.  E. 

38 


was  in  the  way  of  becoming  la  militant  labor  union.  So  the  alert 
and  farseeing  railroad  executives,  through  their  spies  and  stool- 
pigeons,  set  out  to  rid  the  railroad  industry  of  what  they  re- 
garded as  a  menace.  Robinson  was  falsely  accused  on  personal 
charges,  Wilson  was  chosen  to  succeed  him,  and  the  situation  was 
saved  for  the  railroad  companies.  With  Robinson  out  of  the  way 
and  Wilson  in  command,  the  B.  of  L.  E.  was  lost  as  a  labor  union 
and  became  a  subordinate  part  of  the  system  of  railroad  man- 
agement. 

CRAFT  SYSTEM  HAD  FALSE  LEADER 

But  Wilson  was  reckless  in  his  eagerness  to  serve  the  railroads, 
and  ultimately  begot  the  suspicion  of  the  membership.  He  was  de- 
posed by  a  special  convention  in  1874.  P.  M.  Arthur,  leader  of 
the  insurgents,  was  elected  to  succeed  him.  Tho  elected  as  an  in- 
surgent, Arthur  adopted  the  policies  of  Wilson  and  traveled  the 
same  route  until  his  death.  And  with  his  passing  the  organiza- 
tion has  remained  an  attachment  of  railroad  management  under 
Warren  A.  Stone,  who  followed  him  in  office,  and  still  remains 
head  of  the  B.  of  L.  E. 

The  B.  of  L.  E.,  as  Arthur  said,  is  not  a  labor  union,  but  a 
contrivance  whereby  the  engineers  are  made  to  carry  out  the 
policies  of  the  railroad  managers,  and  to  protect  the  roads  at  the 
expense  of  their  fellow  railrotaders,  and  the  capitalist  class  at  the 
expense  of  all  labor. 

That  the  close  and  intimate  contacts  of  railroading  have  not 
long  ago  taught  the  engineers  and  other  railroadmen  the  im- 
perative need  of  industrial  organization  is  due  to  the  erroneous 
conceptions  fostered  by  the  craft  unions.  When  labor  unions 
teach  the  identity  of  interests  between  capitalists  and  laborers, 
of  which  they  themselves  are  a  standing  contradiction,  those  who 
implicitly  accept  this  doctrine  can  never  understand  the  problems 
that  confront  them,  and,  not  understanding,  they  cannot  deal  with 
them  successfully.  As  long  as  the  word  of  a  leader  is  the  law  of 
the  membership,  there  can  be  no  independent  thought  and  no  ini- 
tiative, which  in  its  essence  means  that  there  will  be  no  true  con- 
ception, correct  structure,  or  effective  tactics. 

FOUR  YEARS  OF  STRIKES 

In  the  period  from  1880  to  1884  there  were  numerous  strikes, 
involving  many  trades,  but  most  of  them  were  lost.  It  was  a  time 
of  great  industrial  depression,  and  the  great  majority  of  the 
strikes  were  undertaken  to  oppose  wage  cuts.  Although  these 
wage  reductions  were  general  there  was  no  united  action  by  the 
workers  as  a  class.  Only  where,  and  as  wage  cuts  were  imposed 
was  there  strike  protest.  Those  whose  wages  suffered  would  strike 
so  that  only  individual  shops  and  local  trades  were  involved  in  any 
particular  situation. 

39 


The  tides  of  immigration  ran  heavy  these  years  (the  eighties) 
and  the  labor  supply  was  greatly  in  excess  of  the  available  jobs,  so 
that  there  was  always  on  hand  an  unemployed  army  from  which  it 
was  not  difficult  to  secure  strikebreakers  sufficient  to  serve  the 
purposes  of  the  employers.  For  instance,  a  strike  of  5,000  spin- 
ners in  ten  cotton  mills  in  Massachusetts,  which  lasted  18  weeks, 
was  broken  by  strikebreakers  imported  from  Sweden. 

Four  thousand  miners  in  the  Hocking  Valley  were  on  strike 
for  six  months,  and  the  financial  support  given  them  was  gen- 
erous, they  were  forced  to  go  back  to  work  under  the  conditions 
against  which  they  struck,  and  were  besides  forced  to  abjure  the 
Ohio  State  Miners'  Union.  It  was  made  a  condition  that  to  se- 
cure jobs  in  the  mines  they  had  to  sign  an  ironclad  agreement  to 
remain  unorganized.  These  miners  stood  alone  in  their  fight 
against  coal  operators,  no  other  organized  working  group  coming 
in  contact  with  coal  moved  industrially  to  support  them.  The  coal 
miners  in  other  fields  dug  coal  to  supply  the  market,  and,  though 
they  gave  their  money  to  alleviate  the  suffering,  they  did  not  give, 
what  would  have  saved  the  Hocking  Valley  men,  the  suj^port  which 
would  have  prevented  one  of  the  most  ignominious  defeats  ever 
sustained  by  a  body  of  striking  working  men.  The  organized 
workers  hit  the  miners  with  the  club  of  production  and  tried  to 
assuage  their  wounds  with  financial  assistance.  Industrial  sup- 
port is  what  will  enable  striking  workers  to  win.  Financial  sup- 
port in  such  cases  is  a  fine  paid  by  organized  workmen  for  the 
crime  of  workingclass  treason.  The  miners  lost  because  organ- 
ized workers  handled  and  used  scab  coal,  and  other  organized 
miners  dug  coal  to  supply  the  market.  There  was  no  working  class 
solidarity,  nor  was  there  any  appreciation  of  its  need  or  effective- 
ness. 

Contrast  the  Hocking  Valley  miners'  experience  with  that  of 
the  Union  Pacific  shopmen  the  same  year.  These  strikes  were 
only  a  month  apart  in  a  bad  year  for  strikes.  But  it  depended 
upon  the  manner  in  which  the  strike  was  conducted  whether  the 
year  was  good  or  bad. 

The  Union  Pacific  Railroad  cut  the  wages  of  its  shopmen  ten 
per  cent.  Tho  unorganized,  the  shopmen  struck  on  May  4,  1884, 
They  invited  Joseph  R.  Buchanan,  prominent  in  the  Knights  of 
Labor  and  editor  of  the  Denver  Labor  Enquirer,  to  direct  the 
strike.  Buchanan  threw  himself  into  the  work  with  vigor,  and 
in  thirty-six  hours  every  shop  from  Omaha  to  Ogden,  and  upon 
all  branch  lines,  was  out  on  strike.  On  the  third  day  the  order 
cutting  wages  was  withdrawn  by  the  U.  P.  The  magnificent 
solidarity  displayed  by  the  U.  P.  workmen  had  defeated  the  U.  P. 
in  ian  adverse  year  for  labor. 

But  the  railroad  company  resolved  to  make  another  attempt 
to  impose  its  will  upon  the  employes.  In  the  following  August, 
just  three  months  later,  the  wages  of  15  first  class  machinists,  at 
Ellis,  Kansas,  were  cut,  and  20  men  who  were  prominent  in  the  K. 
of  L.  were  discharged  from  the  Denver  shops.  As  a  result  a  strike 

40 


was  called  on  the  entire  U.  P.  system,  which  was  entirely  success- 
ful. Solidarity  had  scored  its  second  victory  over  the  U.  P.  in  a 
bad  strike  year. 

In  February,  1885,  the  wages  of  the  shopmen  on  the  Wabash 
railroad  were  cut  ten  per  cent.  The  wages  of  the  men  on  the  M. 
K.  &  T.  had  been  similarly  reduced  in  1884.  The  men  on  both 
roads  struck  and  were  joined  by  those  on  the  Missouri  Pacific, 
until  labout  5,000  men  were  involved.  The  engineers,  firemen, 
conductors  and  brakemen  on  the  three  roads  joined  forces  with  the 
strikers.  The  Gould  corporation,  the  greatest  capitalist  combina- 
tion of  its  time,  threw  up  the  sponge.  The  wages  were  restored, 
the  scabs  discharged  and  all  the  strikers  re-employed.  Solidarity 
had  again  demonstrated  its  power  to  successfully  challenge  the 
most  powerful  of  the  corporations. 

THE  KNIGHTS  OF  LABOR  UNDER  FIRE 

But,  again,  in  August,  the  Wabash,  in  an  effort  to  uproot  the 
Knights  of  Labor,  broke  the  conditions  under  which  the  strike  of 
a  few  months  before  had  been  settled,  by  discharging  practically 
all  the  K.  of  L.  men  at  Moberly,  Mo.  The  road  was  then  in  the 
hands  of  a  receiver,  who  refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the 
K.  of  L. 

The  General  Executive  Board  of  the  Knights  issued  an  order 
to  all  assemblies  on  the  U.  P.  and  its  branches,  and  upon  Gould's 
Southwestern  system,  calling  upon  the  members  to  refuse  to  re- 
pair or  handle  in  any  manner,  rolling  stock  of  the  Wabash  rail- 
road until  further  orders  from  the  G.  E.  B.  Upon  the  issuance  of 
this  order  Jay  Gould  personally  took  a  hand  in  the  matter.  He  had 
had  recent  experience  with  solidarity  and  did  not  relish  the  pros- 
pect of  another  battle  with  the  K.  of  L.  The  Wabash  surrendered 
and  the  discharged  men  were  put  back  to  work. 

In  this  second  Wabash  strike  the  train  crews  did  not  par- 
ticipate as  they  had.  done  on  the  previous  occasion.  Had  they 
done  so,  it  is  unlikely  that  the  K.  of  L.  General  Executive  Board 
would  have  found  it  necessary  to  issue  its  order  to  the  U.  P.  and 
Gould's  Southwestern  system  employes. 

It  is  worthy  of  attention  that  the  first  strikes  on  the  U.  P. 
and  the  other  roads  were  spontaneous  uprisings  by  unorganized 
men,  and  that  the  second  strikes  in  both  instances  were  by  men 
who  had  been  organized  only  a  few  months.  It  is  pertinent  to 
speculate  what  the  outcome  would  have  been  had  they  been  ham- 
pered by  such  organizations  as  the  engineers,  firemen  and  con- 
ductors were  organized  into. 

These  four  strikes  won  immense  prestige  for  the  K.  of  L., 
although,  where  it  had  previously  conducted  only  craft  strikes,  it 
had  rolled  up  a  succession  of  failures. 

In  the  first  Wabash  strike  the  train  crews  acted  as  their  in- 
stinct and  judgment  dictated  and  assisted  materially  in  securing 

41 


victory  and  shortening  the  strike.  "But  the  logic  of  this  was  lost 
to  them,  for,  by  the  time  the  second  strike  was  called  in  August, 
the  web  of  the  craft  system  had  securely  entangled  them  and  the 
influence  of  their  several  unions  kept  them  functioning  while  the 
strike  was  on.  Surely  there  is  truth  in  the  contention  that  "the 
railroaders  would  be  better  able  to  meet  and  deal  with  their  prob- 
lems without  their  present  organizations;  that  they  would  be  far 
better  off,  but  it  would  surely  be  hell  for  the  roads." 

THE  STRIKE  OF  MAY  1,  1888 

The  eight-hour  day  strike,  on  May  1,  1886,  is  another  of  the 
great  American  labor  events.  This  strike  was  decided  upon  by 
the  Federation  of  Organized  Trades  and  Labor  Unions  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada  (A.  F.  of  L.)  and  marks  the  last  real 
attempt  until  the  formation  of  the  1.  W.  W.,  to  give  the  organized 
labor  movement  national  economic  expression. 

An  invitation  was  extended  to  the  Knights  of  Labor  to  asso- 
ciate itself  with  this  effort.  This  invitation  was  accepted  by  the 
General  Assembly  and  the  rank  and  file  of  the  K.  of  L.  in  good 
faith,  but  Terrence  V.  Powderly,  who  was  Grand  Master  Workman 
of  the  Knights  and  his  official  family  were  not  in  sympathy  with 
the  idea  and  worked  with  might  and  main,  in  secret  against  par- 
ticipation in  the  strike.  Powderly's  record  in  connection  with  the 
May  strike  to  establish  the  8-hour  day  is  one  of  treachery  and 
baseness.  Nor  does  it  appear  that  those  who  were  influential  in, 
and  who  controlled  the  international  unions  affiliated  in  the  A.  F. 
of  L.  were  any  more  sincere  in  their  support  than  were  Powderly 
and  his  lieutenants. 

To  rightly  appreciate  the  eight-hour  strike  of  1886  it  is  neces- 
sary to  be  acquainted  with  the  struggle  which  had  been  carried 
on  within  the  A.  F.  of  L.  between  the  elements  who  sought  to 
make  it  a  national  economic  organization  and  those  who  sought 
to  steer  it  into  a  course  which  would  prevent  its  becoming  such. 

From  its  inception  as  the  Federation  of  Organized  Trades  and 
Labor  Unions  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  The  A.  F.  of  L.  had 
functioned  as  a  legislation  seeking  body  without  any  result  what- 
ever. Therefore,  it  found  itself  unable  to  interest  the  workers, 
who  were  properly  more  concerned  about  their  job  problems  than 
about  political  issues. 

Eventually  it  became  apparent  to  the  leaders  that  the  organi- 
zation could  not  continue  to  exist  if  it  remained  a  mere  association 
for  the  purpose  of  legislation.  So,  at  the  convention  of  1884,  it 
was  determined  to  infuse  new  life  into  the  Federation  by  making 
it  assume  leadership  in  a  national  movement  for  the  eight-hour 
day. 

In  the  convention  another  question  was  brought  up,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  inauguration  of  a  concerted  movement  for  the  eight- 
hour  day,  was  the  power  of  the  Federation  to  grant  strike  bene- 

42 


benefits.  Both  propositions  were  of  such  a  nature  that,  had  they 
been  adopted,  they  would  have  transferred  the  Federation  from  a 
purely  legislative  organization  into  a  predominantly  economic  one. 

The  proposition  that  each  of  the  affiliated  international  unions 
"pledge  2  per  cent  of  its  total  revenue  toward  a  strike  fund"  was 
referred  by  the  convention  to  the  union.  We  are  informed  that 
**the  eight-hour  declaration  was  cooly  received  even  at  the  hands 
of  unions  affiliated  with  the  Federation.  So  few  unions  acted 
upon  the  strike  benefit  proposal  that  the  convention  of  1885  did 
not  venture  to  adopt  it.  In  consequence  the  Federation  was  unable 
to  expend  a  dollar  in  aid  of  the  strike."  Of  the  unions  connected 
with  the  A.  F.  of  L.,  which  called  the  strike,  only  the  carpenters, 
cigarmakers  and  the  German-American  Typographia  were  com- 
mited  to  its  support. 

A  LABOR  UNION  THAT  CAN  NOT  FUNCTION 

*'The  eight-hour  day  on  May  1"  became  an  .advertising  slogan 
for  the  A.  F.  of  L.,  which  had  actually  done  nothing  more  to  fur- 
ther it  than  to  declare  the  strike.  Notwithstanding  the  hostility 
of  Powderly  and  his  clique,  the  Knights  of  Labor  were  the  real 
advertisers  and  organizers  of  the  strike. 

The  Federation  was  not  constituted  to  carry  on  a  general 
strike^  and  had  no  authority  to  call  one. .  It  is  in  the  same  "position 
today.  There  was  no  evidence  of  either  good  faith  or  sincere  in- 
tention on  the  part  of  those  who  were  in  a  position  to  influence 
the  A.  F.  of  L.  unions  to  contribute  financial  assistance,  even 
though  they  were  both  to  take  part  in  the  strike.  The  membership 
in  the  ranks  of  both  the  A.  F.  of  L.  and  the  K.  of  L.  were  in  favor 
of  the  eight-hour  day  attempt,  as  were  the  unorganized  workers 
who  flocked  into  the  organized  labor  ranks  in  the  months  preced- 
ing the  strike  date.  The  leaders,  however,  did  not  evince  any  en- 
thusiasm. The  unions  in  the  craft  system  have  always  relied  upon 
financial  assistance  to  win  strikes  and  if  there  had  been  any 
sincere  intention  behind  the  strike  declaration  the  A.  F.  of  L.  unions 
would  have  made  financial  provision.  Moreover,  at  the  time  the 
strike  decision  was  made  by  the  convention,  the  A.  F.  of  L.  had  less 
than  50,000  membership  in  its  affiliated  unions.  There  is  room 
to  question  the  honesty  of  the  intention  that  prompted  the  calling 
of  the  strike  by  a  membership  which  constituted  less  than  one- 
fourth  of  the  organized  workers.  It  looks  more  like  the  trick  of 
labor  politicians  than  something  that  was  really  meant.  So  far  as 
the  strike  itself  was  concerned,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  Knights 
of  Labor  it  would  have  fallen  flat.  There  would  have  been  no 
strike. 

DISCOURAGING  THE  RANK  AND  FILE 

t 

The  action  of  the  leaders  in  both  camps  of  organized  labor 
need  occasion  no  surprise  for  it  is  the  habit  and  custom  of  labor 
leaders  at  all  times  to  discourage  strikes  unless  they  fall  in  with 

43 


their  own  plans,  ,and  only  where  the  determination  of  the  rank  and 
file  is  set  do  they  make  a  pretense  of  favoring  them.  All 
through  labor  history  it  has  been  the  marked  tendency  of  labor 
leaders  to  restrain  the  workers  rather  than  to  encourage  them. 
And  with  Powderly's  clique  hostile,  and  the  A.  F.  of  L.  leaders  at 
best  only  lukewarm  in  their  advocacy,  nothing  short  of  the. en- 
thusiasm of  the  men  in  the  ranks  made  a  showing  possible.  As  it 
turned  out  great  gains  were  made,  though  there  were  some  losses 
later,  but  nothing  nearly  like  what  could  have  been  accomplished 
was  achieved. 

Somewhere  in  the  neighborhood  of  400,000  took  part  in  the 
eight-hour  movement  and  about  50  per  cent  of  these  won  the 
shorter  workday;  some  of  them  without  actually  striking  and 
others  as  a  result  of  the  strike.  The  poorly  concealed  rivalry 
between  the  A.  F.  of  L.  and  the  Knights  of  Labor  weakened  the 
effort.  Where  the  concession  was  granted  the  workers  resumed 
operations  immediately  without  regard  to  how  the  other  strikers 
were  making  out.  This  policy  had  the  effect  of  lessening  the 
morale  of  the  union  forces,  which  was  entirely  destroyed  by  the 
Chicago  Haymarket  riot.  Moreover,  the  ideas  which  dominated 
in  the  A.  F.  of  L.  and  the  Knights  of  Labor  were  so  at  variance 
that  the  harmony  which  was  necessary  for  so  extensive  a  strike 
was  impossible. 

Among  the  Knights  were  men  who  were  pronounced  and 
capable  advocates  of  the  class  conception,  and  there  were  men  in 
the  A.  F.  of  L.  though  less  numerous,  who  also  accepted  the  class 
struggle  as  a  social  fact.  The  strike  declaration  of  the  A.  F.  of  L. 
was  due  to  the  activity  of  this  element,  and  the  enthusiasm  which 
marked  the  strike  preparation  was  due  to  the  class  conscious  work- 
ers in  both  camps.  These  attained  prominence  and  were  in  bad 
odor  with  the  dominating  figures  in  the  councils  of  the  A.  F.  of  L. 
and  the  K.  of  L.  They  were  regarded  as  dangerous  agitators  with- 
out whom  the  organizations  would  be  better  off. 

THE  GREAT  HAYMARKET  FRAME  UP 

When  the  so-called  Haymarket  riot  occured  in  Chicago  the 
strike  forces  throughout  the  country  stood  appalled  and  terrified. 
It  was  generally  assumed,  even  by  working  people,  that  the  strik- 
ers were  responsible  for  the  outrage,  though  the  identity  of  the 
bomb-thrower  had  never  been  established.  It  is  unlikely  that  the 
criminal  would  have  remained  undiscovered  had  he  been  connected 
with  the  labor  movement  and  the  eight-hour  strike.  The  employ- 
ers gained  such  advantage  from  this  occurence  that  they  might 
easily  and  logically  be  suspected  of  having  arranged  it.  Many 
frame-ups  ,and  plants  go  to  prove  that  they  are  not  too  unscrupul- 
ous to  have  done  so.  Labor  lost  morale  and  prestige  as  a  result  of 
the  Haymarket  affair  and  the  employers  gained  correspondingly 
in  both  directions. 

The  Chicago  labor  men  who  were  arrested,  arraigned  and 

44 


condemned  in  connection  with  the  bomb-throwing  were  among 
the  brainiest  and  most  courageous  of  those  who  advocated  union- 
ism as  the  nucleus  of  a  new  society.  Legally  the  trial  was  a 
travesty.  The  air  of  the  court  room  was  saturated  with  prejudice, 
and  the  finding  of  the  packed  jury  was  contrary  to  the  evidence. 
The  court  proceeding  was  not  a  trial.  It  was  a  formality  staged  to 
give  the  semblance  of  legality,  and  outwardly  to  justify  the  execu- 
tion of  a  pre-determined  vengeance. 

Powderly,  although  the  condemned  men  were  members  of  the 
K.  of  L.  used  all  of  his  power  as  Grand  Chief  Master  Workman 
to  prevent  any  protest  on  their  behalf  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  K.  of  L.  And  no  such  protest  was  ever  made.  The  A.  F.  of  L. 
convention  did  plead  for  leniency  but  the  rulers  of  industry  had 
determined  to  inflect  the  maximum  punishment  and  their  political 
creatures  were  not  to  be  moved  toward  justice  or  clemency. 

Louis  Lingg  died  in  jail;  Albert  Parsons,  Adolph  Fischer, 
August  Spies  and  George  Engel  were  hanged  on  November  11, 
1887.  The  sentences  of  Samuel  Fielden  and  Michael  Schwab  were 
commuted  from  death  to  15  years;  and  the  court  sentenced  Oscar 
Neebe  to  a  prison  term  of  15  years.  Governor  John  P.  Altgeld 
pardoned  these  men  in  1893. 

With  the  alleged  anarchists  in  jail  and  the  fighting  spirit  of 
the  workers  broken,  the  employers  set  about  undoing  what  had 
been  accomplished  by  the  strike.  It  was  felt  by  them  that  the  in- 
spiration which  strengthened  the  backbone  of  the  working  class 
could  no  longer  wield  an  inffuence  from  behind  the  bars  of  Cook 
County  Jail. 

The  packers  reinstituted  the  ten-hour  day  in  the  stockyards 
and  refused  to  employ  Knights  of  Labor  members.  Twenty 
thousand  packing  house  employes  struck,  and  declared  a  boycott 
on  the  meats  of  Armour  &  Co.,  which  had  initiated  the  movement 
by  the  packers  to  re-establish  the  old  hours. 

The  solidarity  displayed  by  the  stockyard  workers  was  mag- 
nificent, and  the  men  were  in  a  position  to  win,  despite  the  pres- 
ence of  two  regiments  of  militia  and  hundreds  of  Pinkertons.  On 
November  10,  the  packers  withdrew  the  prohibition  against  K.  of 
L.  men.  Five*  days  later,  Powderly  telegraphed  an  order  calling 
the  strike  off.  This  order  coming  *1ike  a  thunderbolt  out  of  a 
clear  sky;"  was  against  the  wishes  of  the  men  and  over  the  pro- 
test of  the  officials  in  charge  of  the  strike,  because  it  was  felt  that 
the  strike  would  soon  end  successfully.^  Powderly  was  earning  the 
government  job  which  he  now  holds.  The  effect  of  his  action  in 
this  case,  in  his  eight-hour  secret  circular  opposing  the  eight-hour 
day  and  in  his  refusal  to  even  plead  for  mercy  for  the  Haymarket 
victims  was  the  demoralization  of  the  American  working  class  and 
a  death  wound  for  the  K.  of  L. 

In  the  case  of  the  Haymarket  martyrs  the  industrial  power 
which  the  Knights  of  Labor  commanded,  had  it  been  used,  was 
sufficient  to  have  secured  justice  for  these  victims  of  a  blood- 


45 


thirsty  ruling  class  and  a  prejudiced  judge  and  jury.  Yet,  under 
the  domination  of  Powderly,  the  General  Assembly  did  not  even 
dare  to  plead  or  protest. 

The  May  strike  of  1886  is  one  of  the  greatest  events  in  all 
labor  history.  On  that  day  v;as  born  the  idea  that  has  since  found 
expression  in  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World,  Conceived  in 
deceit,  and  nursed  in  treachery,  on  May  1,  1886,  the  idea  of  a  uni- 
versal strike  by  labor  for  social  ends  has  found  a  home  where  there 
is  no  class  contusion  and  no  interest  to  serve  but  the  interest  of 
the  workers,  A  class  organization,  for  class  purposes,  inspired  by  a 
class  ideal  will  bHng  to  full  fruition  what  was  planted  in  the 
eight-hour  general  strike  in  1886. 

Through  all  the  history  of  craft  unionism  there  is  the  plain 
lesson  that  such  a  form  of  organization  cannot  be  anything  but 
a  detriment  to  the  interests  of  the  workers.  The  development  of 
modern  Industry  demands  INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM  as  the  only 
means  by  which  to  cope  with  the  tremendous  power  of  present  day 
capitalism.  The  I.  W.  W.  is  such  a  union.  It  combines  Industrial  Sol- 
idarity with  the  revolutionary  program,  that — The  working  class 
must  receive  the  full  product  of  their  toil,  and;  the  abolition  of 
the  wage  system.  Only  the  realization  of  such  measures  can  solve 
the  present  predicament  of  the  working  class. 

For  further  information  on  the  I.  W.  W.  write  to  the  General 
Secretary-Treasurer,  1001  W.  Madison  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


Preamble  of  the  Industrial  Workers 
of  the  World 


The  working  class  and  the  employing  class  have  nothing  in  common. 
There  can  be  no  peace  so  long  as  hunger  and  want  are  found  among  mil- 
lions of  the  working  people  and  the  few,  who  make  up  the  employing  class, 
have  all  the  good  things  of  life. 

Between  these  two  classes  a  struggle  must  go  on  until  the  workers 
of  the  world  organize  as  a  class,  take  possession  of  the  earth  and  the  ma- 
chinery of  production,  and  abolish  the  wage  system. 

We  find  that  the  centering  of  the  management  of  industries  into  fewer 
and  fewer  hands  makes  the  trade  unions  unable  to  cope  with  the  ever  grow- 
ing power  of  the  employing  class.  The  trade  unions  foster  a  state  of 
affairs  which  allows  one  set  of  workers  to  be  pitted  against  another  set  of 
workers  in  the  same  industry,  thereby  helping  to  defeat  one  another  in  wage 
wars.  Moreover,  the  trade  unions  aid  the  employing  class  to  mislead  the 
workers  into  the  belief  that  the  working  class  have  interests  in  common 
with  their  employers. 

These  conditions  can  be  changed  and  the  interests  of  the  working  class 
upheld  only  by  an  organization  formed  in  such  a  way  that  all  its  members 
in  any  one  industry,  or  in  all  industries  if  necessary,  cease  work  when- 
ever a  strike  or  lockout  is  on  in  any  department  thereof,  thus  making  an 
injury  to  one  an  injury  to  all. 

Instead  of  the  conservative  motto,  "A  fair  day's  wage  for  a  fair  day's 
work,"  we  must  inscribe  on  our  banner  the  revolutionary  watchword, 
"Abolition  of  the  wage  system." 

It  is  the  historic  mission  of  the  working  class  to  do  away  with  cap- 
italism. The  army  of  production  must  be  organized,  not  only  for  the  every- 
day struggle  with  capitalists,  but  also  to  carry  on  production  when  cap- 
italism shall  have  been  overthrown.  By  organizing  industrially  we  are 
forming  the  structure  of  the  new  society  within  the  shell  of  the  old. 


To  Be  Posted--.- 


ON  CURRENT  LABOR  NEWS, 
ESPECIALLY  L  W.  W.  NEWS, 

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lillllilll!lllllll!l!il!!lllllllilllllililllllil!IIIH 


Foreword 

This  is  the  second  of  a  series  of  booklets,  written  in  a 
semi-fictional  form,  and  dealing  with  the  Preamble, 
History,  Structure  and  Methods  of  the  Industrial  Work- 
ers of  the  World,  popularly  known  as  the  1.  W.  W. 

The  first  is  called  ''The  Preamble  of  the  I.  W.  It 
should  be  read  in  conjunction  with  this  pamphlet.  This 
pamphlet,  however,  may  be  read  alone,  as  it  is  practically 
an  independent  work. 

This  series  aims  to  educate  the  workers  in  all  that  the 
1.  W.  W.  stands  for. 

The  L  W.  W.,  is  not  a  secret,  underground  society. 
Nor  does  it  believe  in  assassination  and  crime;  all  mis- 
representation and  persecution  to  the  contrary,  notwith- 
standing. 

The  L  W.  W.  is  a  labor  union,  that  organizes  accord- 
ing to  industry,  instead  of  trades;  with  branches  and 
affiliations  all  over  the  world,  hence  its  name. 

Its  headquarters  are  in  Chicago,  111.,  where  it  was 
first  organized  in  1905. 

Read  this  booklet  and  learn  more  about  it.  If  you 
agree  with  its  aims  and  objects,  then  join  it. 


PREAMBLE  OF  THE  INDUSTRIAL  WORKERS 
OF  THE  WORLD 


The  working  class  and  the  employing  class  have  nothing  in  common.  | 
There  can  be  no  peace  so  long  as  hunger  and  want  are  found  among  mil-  ! 
lions  of  the  working  people  and  the  few,  who  make  up  the  employing  class, 
have  all  the  good  things  of  life. 

Between  these  two  classes  a  struggle  must  go  on  until  the  workers 
of  the  world  organize  as  a  class,  take  possession  of  the  earth  and  the  ma- 
chinery of  production,  and  abolish  the  wage  system. 

We  find  that  the  centering  of  the  management  of  industries  into  fewer 
and  fewer  hands  makes  the  trade  unions  unable  to  cope  with  the  ever  grow- 
ing power  of  the  employing  class.  The  trade  unions  foster  a  state  of 
affairs  which  allows  one  set  of  workers  to  be  pitted  against  another  set  of 
workers  in  the  same  industry,  thereby  helping  to  defeat  one  another  in  wage 
wars.  Moreover,  the  trade  unions  aid  the  employing  class  to  mislead  the 
workers  into  the  belief  that  the  working  class  have  interests  in  common 
with  their  employers. 

These  conditions  can  be  changed  and  the  interests  of  the  working  class 
upheld  only  by  an  organization  formed  in  such  a  way  that  all  its  members 
in  any  one  industry,  or  in  all  industries  if  necessary,  cease  work  when- 
ever a  strike  or  lockout  is  on  in  any  department  thereof,  thus  making  an 
injury  to  one  an  injury  to  all. 

Instead  of  the  conservative  motto^  "A  fair  day's  wage  for  a  fair  day's 
work,"  we  must  inscribe  on  our  banner  the  revolutionary  watchword, 
"Abolition  of  the  wage  system." 

It  is  the  historic  mission  of  the  working  class  to  do  away  with  cap- 
italism. The  army  of  production  must  be  organized,  not  only  for  the  every- 
day struggle  with  capitalists,  but  also  to  carry  on  production  when  cap- 
italism shall  have  been  overthrown.  By  organizing  industrially  we  are 
forming  the  structure  of  the  new  society  within  the  shell  of  the  old. 


Illllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!llllllllll!lll!llllllllllllll^ 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  1.  W.  W. 


Truth  is  stranger  than  fiction ;  and 
history  more  absorbing  than  the  novel. 


THE  TALKERS: 

Bob  Hammond,  a  mill-hand  and  migratory  worker. 
Sam  Scissorbill,  steel  worker  and  home  guard. 
Jack  Walsh,  a  rough  and  ready  longshoreman. 
Ed.  Morrison,  another  ''dock  walloper,"  lover  of 
history. 

SCENE: 

Along  the  Inland  State  Canal.  Wharf  of  the  G.  E. 
Co.,  whose  plant  is  partly  closed  down,  thanks  to  the 
industrial  depression.  The  idle  workers  gather  there 
from  force  of  habit,  to  await  developments  and  ''chew 
the  rag''  on  conditions  in  general  and  their  own  prospects 
in  particular.  Depressions  are  periods  of  great  mental 
development.  They  make  some  of  the  workers  think. 

Walsh  (a  newspaper  before  him) :  So  the  Ku-Klux  Klan 
at  Shreveport,  La.,  has  kidnapped  the  LW.W.  lawyer 
and  run  him  out  of  town,  after  beating  him  up.  The 
war  ruined  Europe,  but,  evidently  not  the  L  W.  W. 
It  comes  back  stronger  than  ever  before. 

Morrison  (admiringly) :  It's  great!  In  all  history  

Scissorbill  (interrupting:):  There  you  go  again!  Who 
cares  for  history?  We  don't  live  according  to  history! 

Marrison  (unabashed):  That's  just  the  trouble!  Past 
persecutions  teach  us  nothing.  Martyrdom  is  the  seed 
of  the  church  now  as  be  


5 


Hammond  (impatiently) :  Ah,  can  that  stuff!  It  is  organ- 
ization in  spite  of  persecution  that  is  the  secret  of 
1.  W.  W.  vitality.  Martyrdom,  me  eye ! 

Scissorbill  (sarcastically) :  '^Organization/'  where  is  i 
It  hasn't  got  any'round  here.  And  it  never  did  amou 
to  much  anywhere.  What  good  is  it,  anyway? 
wouldn't  join  any  organization;  much  less  such 
gang  of  anarchists,  pro-Germans  and  Bolsheviks  li 
the  1.  W.  W.! 

Walsh  (laughing  with  the  others) :  Scissorbill,  you  al- 
ways were  synonimous  with  stupidity,  when  it  comes 
to  realizing  the  necessity  of  uniting  with  your  fellow- 
workers  in  safeguarding  and  advancing  common  in- 
terests. Christ,  rftan !  Wake  up !  You  don't  think  the 
I.  W.  W.  is  lambasted  because  it  is  without  organiza- 
tion, do  you?  It  must  amount  to  something  to  cause 
the  other  side  to  go  after  it  so  fiercely ! 

Hammond  (chiming  in) :  Now  you're  spouting.  Jack!  But 
let's  cut  out  personalities.  This  is  not  a  matter  of 
persons,  but  of  organization  and  all  that  is  back 
of  it.  (Turning  to  Scissor) :  That's  old  stuff,  that  '^an- 
archist,"  ^'pro-German,"  ''Bolsheviks"  stuff  is.  The  abo- 
litionists were  called  names  like  that,  too.  But  they 
lived  to  see  the  negro  slave  free.  Maybe  if  we  stick 
around  as  long  as  they  did,  we'll  see  something  like 
that  happen  in  connection  with  the  I.  W.  W.  Maybe 
sooner.  Things  move  faster  nowadays!  Who  knows? 

Morrison  (delighted) :  If  Scissorbill  only  knew  history  as 
you  do,  Bob.  He'd  . 

Scissorbill  (angrily) :  Can  that  highbrow  stuff!  I  want  to 
know,  what  good  is  the  I.  W.  W.  ?  What  has  it  done, 
besides  burn  crops  and  forests,  destroy  machinery, 
and  raise  hell  generally,  all  to  no  good  purpose? 

Morrison  (amused) :  Why  ,  Sam,  that's  an  appeal  to  the 
records  in  the  case— to  history !  If  . 

Walsh  (laughing  again) :  Don't  you  admit  that,  Sam.  Tell 
him  that  Napoleon  said,  history  is  a  fable,  and  that 
the  history  of  the  I.  W.  W.,  accordingly,  does  not 
exist,  even  if  the  newspapers,  labor  journals,  court 
records,  and  libraries  are  full  of  it.  Sic'em,  Scissor! 

6 


I.  W.  W.  NO  FUN  FOR  EMPLOYERS 

Hammond  (after  the  laughter  had  subsided) :  Let's  be  a 
little  more  serious,  fellers.  Judging  from  the  way  the 
employing  class  persecutes  the  L  W.  W.,  they  don't 
see  any  thing  funny  about  it.  Neither  should  we. 
Besides,  guying  Sam  does  not  answer  his  argument. 
(After  a  pause)  In  the  Chicago  war-trial,  it  was 
shown  that  the  L  W.  W.,  instead  of  destroying 
forests,  fought  fires  in  gangs  in  the  employ  of  the 
State  Foresters.  No  German  gold,  it  was  also  shown, 
was  found,  either  directly  or  indirectly.  The  farm 
machinery  was  destroyed  by  defective  insulation  and 
lack  of  care.  In  the  Chicago  and  other  war  trials,  the 
I.  W.  W.'s  were  convicted  as  a  result  of  war  propa- 
ganda and  hysteria. 

Morrison  (interrupting) :  That's  an  old  story.  It  won't 
help  Sam  any!  Your  true  Scissorbill  wants  his  pre- 
judices confirmed;  not  overthrown.  It  is  prejudice, 
not  reason;  trust  interests,  not  the  commonwealth, 
that  is  back  of  modern  persecution.  War  is  the  op- 
portunitj^,  patriotism  the  cloak  behind  which  the  endb 
of  the  monopolists  controlling  modern  American  life 
have  been  furthered.  Current  history  is  full  of  this 
persecution.  In  agriculture,  it  was  the  Non-Partisan 
Leaguers  that  were  victims;  in  religion,  the  Russell- 
ites;  in  education,  the  public  school  teachers;  in  pol- 
itics, Debs  and  the  communists.  But  the  1.  W.  W.  got 
the  worst  of  it.  And  it  lives,  despite  it  all.  The  his- 
tory of  American  labor  in  modern  times  shows  noth- 
ing like  it. 

Scissorbill  (with  impatience) :  Ah,  what  has  history  got 
to  do  with  it,  anyway? 

Morrison  (continuing  undisturbed) :  As  I  have  said  so 
often  before,  if  truth  is  stranger  than  fiction  then 
history  is  more  absorbing  than  the  novel.  Here  is  the 
history  of  the  I.  W.  W.  A  history  of  current  tenden- 
cies, in  keeping  with  modern  industrial  development ; 
prosaic,  sordid,  repulsive,  in  its  materialistic  details; 
yet  one  that  has  given  us  song  writers,  poets  and 
artists,  and  self-sacrifice  and  heroism  that  is  not  oc- 
casional, but  continuous  and  unending.  Talk  about 
moral  granduer. 

7 


Walsh  (impulsively) :  Bv  Christ,  Morrison ;  that  ought  to 
stir  even  Scissorbili. 

Scissorbill  (breaking  out) :  ''Moral  grandeur,"  hell !  Tl 
go  to  jail  because  they've  got  to. 

EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  I.  W.  W.— WHAT  FOR? 

Morrison  (unabashed) :  In  the  pursuit  of  an  ideal,  y 
Think  of  it!  Eighteen  years  of  hostility,  suffering, 
prison  and  death;  such  is  the  I.  W.  W. !  And  for 
what?  For  the  immediate  improvement  of  the  work- 
ers! For  the  era  coming  in  which  the  workers  shall 
not  only  have  better  conditions,  but  emancipation 
from  capitalist  exploitation  and  oppression. 

Scissorbill  (viciously):  Get  out!  They  don't  want  free- 
dom. They  want  the  capitalists'  wealth.  They  want 
to  divide  up ;  that's  what  they  want !  They  . 

Walsh  (laughingly):  Well,  Scissor;  you  ought  to  be 
with  them,  if  they  want  to  divide  up.  You'll  have 
something  then,  for  the  first  time  in  your  life. 

Hammond  (joining  in  the  laughter) :  Talk  about  divid- 
ing up,  look  at  the  way  the  capitalists  divide  up  the 
wealth  the  workers  create.  They  take  the  lion's  share 
for  themselves,  and  give  the  workers  only  enough, 
in  the  form  of  wages,  to  live  on  and  reproduce  them- 
selves. If  you  want  to  stop  dividing  up.  Scissor,  join 
the  I.  W.  W.  Its  slogan  is,  "Labor  creates  all  wealth. 
All  wealth  belongs  to  labor!" 

Walsh  (laughing) :  Ah,  that's  throwing  water  on  a  duck's 
back.  It  rolls  off.  All  Scissorbills  are  good  for  is  to 
kiss  the  hand  that  smites  them.  They  crawl  on  their 
bellies  to  their  masters. 

Hammond  (interposing) :  Come,  fellers;  let's  can  that 
sort  of  chatter.  We  were  all  Scissorbills  at  one  time ! 
I  was  one  myself,  before  I  become  a  wobbly,  that  is, 
an  I.  W.  W.  If  there  were  no  Scissorbills,  there  would 
be  no  capitalism.  Without  Scissorbills  and  capital- 
ism, where  would  the  wobblies  come  from? 

Morrison  (soothingly) :  You  are  right.  Bob.  The  wobblies 
are  an  outgrowth,  like  everything  else.  The  six  men 
who  founded  the  I.  W.  W.,  in  1905  were  dissatisfied 

8 


with  the  A.  F.  of  L.  form  of  organization  and  con- 
sequently, saw  the  need  of  the  new  industrial  union 
form. 

THE  1.  W.  W/S  FOUNDERS  AND  IDEA, 

These  six  men  were  Isaac  Cowen,  American  re- 
presentative of  the  Amalgamated  Society  of  En- 
gineers of  Great  Britain;  Clarence  Smith,  General 
Secretary-Treasurer,  American  Labor  Union ;  Thomas 
J.  Haggerty,  Editor  ''Voice  of  Labor,"  organ  of  the 
A.  L.  A.;  George  Estes,  President  United  Brother- 
hood of  Railway  Employees;  W.  L.  Hall,  General 
Secretary-Treasurer,  U.  B.  R.  E.;  and  William  E. 
Trautman,  Editor  ''Brauer  Zeitung,''  United  Brewery 
Workers'  organ. 

They  called  a  conference  that  came  together  in 
Chicago,  111.,  on  January  second,  1905.  This  con- 
ference drew  up  an  industrial  union  manifesto,  call- 
ing for  a  convention  to  be  held  in  Chicago,  111.,  on 
June  27,  1905. 

This  industrial  union  manifesto  stated,  substan- 
tially, that  mechanical  and  industrial  conditions  so 
grouped  men  as  to  wipe  out  trade  divisions  among 
the  workers  and  competition  among  the  capitalists. 
With  the  centering  of  industry  into  fewer  hands,  the 
trade  unions  are  unable  to  meet  the  new  conditions; 
for  instead  of  consolidating,  in  accordance  with  in- 
dustrial changes,  they  keep  the  workers  divided  in  . 
the  old  trade  way,  thus  making  them  easy  to  defeat. 

As  a  remedy  for  the  condition  they  proposed  in- 
dustrial unionism.  That  is,  a  unionism  in  accord  with 
industrial  development  and  strong  enough,  con- 
sequently, to  combat  successfully  capitalist  concent- 
ration. They  also  proposed  to  make  industrial  union- 
ism the  means  whereby  the  workers  could  secure 
control  of  production  and  establish  industrial  democ- 
racy. This  they  call  ''forming  the  structure  of  the 
new  society  in  the  shell  of  the  old.'' 

This  conference  was  attended  by  forty  men,  all 
active  in  the  radical,  socialist,  and  labor  union  move- 
ment of  the  time.  The  convention  that  followed,  was 
attended  by  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  delegates  re- 
presenting thirty-six  state,  district,  national  and  local 

9 


organizations,  with  a  membership  of  ninety  thousand. 
Among  them  was  the  then  powerful  Western  Federa- 
tion of  Miners,  which  had  taken  an  active  part 
calling  the  convention  and  promoting  the  new  indi 
trial  union  movement.    Its  General  Secretaiy-Tre 
surer,  William  D.  Haywood,  was  the  conventioi 
permanent  chairman. 

Walsh  (interrupting) :  Christ,  much  water  has  goi 
'round  the  I.  W.  W.,  turbine  since  1905;  driving  it  ( 
to  achieve  much  good  for  the  workers,  in  spite 
shortcomings  and  defeats. 

AN  INHERENT  DEVELOPMENT. 

Hammond  (chiming  in) :  Its  had  enough  of  both.  Its  a 
miracle  how  it  persists.    But  . 

Morrison  (laughingly) :  Its  amazing  that  so  meager  a 
body  should  cause  so  much  horror  to  trade  unionism 
and  capitalism.  The  I.  W.  W.  is  feared  not  so  much 
for  what  it  is,  as  for  what  it  might  be.  It  is  a  develop- 
ment inherent  in  capitalism  and  impossible  to  erad- 
icate, on  that  account.  Its  possibilities  are  always 
immense. 

Take  that  first  convention.  Seven  organizations, 
with  a  combined  membership  of  fifty-one  thousand, 
were  installed  as  a  part  of  the  I.  W.  W.  Subsequently, 
the  Western  Federation  of  Miners  withdrew,  while 
the  memberships  of  the  others  were  found  to  be 
either  non-existent  or  greatly  inflated.  On  this  rickety 
foundation  was  erected  the  I.  W.  W.,  ^'the  menace  to 
society,"  to  quote  the  press.  It  looks  like  a  joke. 
But  the  power  of  an  idea,  such  as  Industrial  Democ- 
racy, when  advanced  at  the  right  time,  even  by  a 
minority,  is  more  frightful  to  capitalist  autocracy 
than  are  vast  numbers  without  a  definite  inspiration, 
indiscriminately  pushed.  An  ideal .  with  an  organ- 
ization behind  it,  no  matter  how  small,  is  more  to 
be  feared  than  an  organization  without  an  ideal  be- 
fore it,  no  matter  how  large.  As  Sam  Scarlett  used  to 
say :  The  I.  W.  W.  is  an  organization  whose  time  has 
arrived  and  all  hell  can't  stop  it.' 

Well,  the  first  years  of  the  I.  W.  W.,  were  years 
of  difficult  assimilation  and  formation.  Many  of  the 

10 


elements  taken  in  were  unsuited  to  the  purpose. 
Charles  0.  Sherman,  president  of  the  United  Metal 
Workers,  was  the  first  and  last  president  of  the  1.  W. 
W.  After  serving  one  year  he  was  removed  and  the 
presidential  functions  were  performed  by  a  General 
Executive  Board  and  General  Secretary-Treasurer, 
subject  to  referendum  and  recall  by  the  membership. 

Since  1905,  eight  hundrod  thousand  members  have 
been  enrolled  in  the  1.  W.  W. 

The  successful  movement  to  save  the  lives  of 
Moyer,  Haywood  and  Pettibone,  W.  F.  of  M.  leaders, 
accused  of  the  death  of  Ex-Governor  Steunenberg  of 
Idaho,  was  initiated  by  the  I.  W.  W.,  and  formed 
most  of  its  first  activities. 

In  1906,  it  established  the  eight-hour  day  for 
hotel  and  restaurant  workers  in  Goldfield,  Nevada. 
Owing  to  A.  F.  of  L.  scabbing,  a  strike  of  sheet  and 
metal  workers  at  Youngstown,  O.,  in  the  same  year, 
was  lost. 

In  1907  three  thousand  textile  workers  in  Skowhe- 
gan.  Me.,  won  improved  conditions,  after  a  four  week 
struggle  and  in  spite  of  A.  F.  of  L.  scabbing.  In  Port- 
land, Ore.,  3,000  saw-mill  workers  struck  for  the 
nine-hour  day  and  a  wage  increase  from  $1.57  a  day 
to  $2.50  a  day.  The  strike  and  its  aftermath  won  a 
wage  increase  and  improved  conditions.  It  also  gave 
impetus  to  I.  W.  W.  organization  in  the  lumber  in- 
dustry of  the  north-west,  which  became  and  is  now 
one  of  the  best  I.  W.  W.  strongholds.  A  strike  of  one 
thousand  metal  workers  at  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  was 
lost  through  A.  F.  of  L.,  scabbing. 

The  panic  of  1907,  caused  shut-downs  that  killed 
the  strike  of  eight  hundred  silk  workers  at  Lancaster, 
Pa.  In  the  spring  of  1917  a  prolonged  strike  at  Gold- 
field,  Nevada,  was  compromised  by  the  treachery  of 
the  general  officers  of  the  W.  F.  of  M.  In  the  fall, 
however,  the  I.  W.  W.  gained  ground  and,  under  its 
sway,  the  $5.00  and  8  hour  day  became  universal. 
During  the  I.  W.  W.  regime  at  Goldfield,  all  the  local 
laws  were  made  in  the  union  hall  and  posted  on  the 
bulletin  boards  of  the  union.  They  were  generally 
observed. 

Walsh  (interjecting) :  No  wonder  the  I.  W.  W.  is  hated. 

11 


Think  of  a  labor  union  usurping  the  bossism  of  a 
chamber  of  commerce  or  the  corporations  that  run  a 
city.  It's  terrible  to  contemplate — from  a  capitah*^^ 
standpoint! 

Morrison  (continuing) :  The  panic  of  1907,  with  its  d 
pression  and  unemployment,  hit  labor  unions  har 
especially  the  1.  W.  W.,  which  had  been  bare 
formed.  However,  the  I.  W.  W.  managed  to  hai 
on,  by  participating  in  the  many  unemployme 
movements  and  agitations  of  the  time.  It  did  tl 
same  in  the  "hard  times"  of  1913-14. 


THE  McKEES  ROCKS  STRIKE. 

It  was  the  great  strike  at  McKees  Rocks,  Pa.,  that 
gave  the  I.  W.  W.  its  first  big  impetus  on  a  wider 
scale.  This  occurred  in  the  plant  of  the  Pressed  Steel 
Car  Co.,  in  July  1909.  This  was  originally  a  spontan- 
eous revolt,  affecting  16  different  nationalities,  in  all 
branches  of  labor  in  the  industry.  Though  Frank- 
Morrison,  secretary  of  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor,  passed  up  the  revolters,  saying,  "They  are  only 
Hunkies,''  the  1.  W.  W.  organized  them  so  success- 
fully that,  despite  the  most  ruthless  opposition,  ad- 
vanced wages  and  improved  conditions  were  subse- 
quently conceeded. 

Following  the  McKees  Rock  strike,  came  the  suc- 
cessive free  speech  fights  at  Spokane,  Wash.,  Fresno, 
Cal.,  and  other  cities.  The  authorities  attempted  to 
squelch  the  growing  I.  W.  W.  by  preventing  outdoor 
speaking  in  defiance  of  constitutional  rights.  The  I. 
W.  W.s  went  to  jail  by  the  hundreds  in  order  to  pre- 
serve those  rights  to  keep  alive  their  organization. 
The  expense  and  notoriety  of  these  fights  caused  the 
tax  payers  to  compell  the  authorities  to  yield,  and 
thus  to  put  a  big  feather  in  the  cap  of  the  I.  W.  W. 

^  About  1910  came  a  big  strike  at  the  Schwab  steel 
mill  at  Bethlehem,  Pa.  In  this  strike,  which  was  pro- 
ceeding successfully,  the  I.  W.  W.  yielded  to  the  jur- 
isdictional claims  of  the  A.  F.  of  L.  and,  rather  than 
cause  dissension  withdrew.  Some  of  the  more  skilled 
crafts  got  beneficial  agreements,  but  the  strikers,  on 


12 


the  whole,  were  defeated.  The  outcome  again  raised 
1.  W.  W.  prestige. 

Next  followed  a  series  of  strikes  with  varying  suc- 
cesses, such  as  the  shoe  workers  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.; 
textile  and  shoe  workers,  Haverhill,  Mass.;  clothing 
workers,  Seattle,  Wash.;  railroad  workers,  Prince 
Ruppert  and  Lytton,  B.  C. ;  lumber  workers  in  the 
Northwest  and  at  Grabow,  La. 

Then  came  the  Lowell  textile  strike,  followed  by 
the  great  Lawrence  strike  of  1912. 

THE  GREAT  LAWRENCE  STRIKE. 

It  might  be  well  to  state,  by  way  of  reminder,  that 
the  history  of  the  L  W.  W.  is  the  history  of  growth 
in  unionism.  As  industrial  development  combines  all 
the  trades  in  one  industrial  whole,  so  does  the  L  W. 
W.  seek  to  combine  the  trades  into  one  big  industrial 
imion.  And  as  industrial  development  tends  to  ex- 
pand beyond  national  boundaries,  and  become  inter- 
national in  scope,  so  does  the  L  W.  W.  become  inter- 
national, too.  The  Lawrence  strike  of  1912  was  an 
epoch-making  strike.  It  proved  the  value  of  indus- 
trial unionism  on  a  larger  scale  than  any  previous  1. 
W.  W.  strike.  It  bound  all  the  trades,  conflicting 
unions  and  nationalities,  organized  and  unorganized, 
into  one  solid  whole.  It  gave  rise  to  a  new  word. 
'That  word,''  writes  George  Briton  Beale,  journalist, 
in  a  "Review  of  the  Lawrence  Strike,''  'Vas  'Solidar- 
ity.' Its  meaning,  as  given  in  the  dictionary,  is  'Com- ' 
munity  of  interests  and  responsibilities.'  " 

The  Lawrence  strike  caused  a  raise  in  wages  thru- 
out  the  textile  industry  of  the  country,  variously 
estimated  by  capitalists  authorities  at  from  five  to 
fifteen  millions  of  dollars  annually.  Subsequently, 
its  memories  halted  threats  of  wage  reductions  at 
Providence,  R.  I.,  and  New  Bedford,  Mass.  It,  further, 
gave  a  new  impetus  to  labor  organization,  not  only 
in  New  England  but  thruout  the  United  States. 

The  Lawrence  strike  alone  should  answer  Scissor- 
bill's  questions  "What  good  is  the  I.  W.  W.?  And 
what  has  it  ever  organized?" 

Scissorbill  (ruffled) :  Bah,  that  strike  occurred  long  ago! 
Show  us — 

13 


Hammond  (breaking  in) :  Let  me  say  something  about 
the  agitation  and  success  of  the  1.  W.  W.  among  the 
migratory  workers,  especially  in  the  lumber  industry 
and  harvest  fields,  since  the  Lawrence  strike  in — 

Morrison  (interrupting) :  Just  a  minute.  Bob.  I  was 
going  to  say,  the  Lawrence  strike  of  1912  was  fol-  ' 
lowed  by  strikes  in  many  other  parts  of  Massachu- 
setts and  in  Little  Falls,  N.  Y. ;  in  the  silk  centers  of 
Paterson,  N.  J.,  and  New  York,  N.  Y. ;  the  rubber 
works  of  Akron,  0.;  the  hop  fields  of  Wheatland, 
Cal. ;  and  the  steel  trust  iron  ore  mines  on  the  Mesaba 
range  of  Minnesota.  They  all  happened  between  1912 
and  1916  and  resulted,  either  directly  or  indirectly, 
in  many  benefits  to  the  workers  involved. 

ORGANIZING  THE  MIGRATORY  WORKERS 

Hammond  (emphatically):  You  bet  they  did!  That 
Wheatland  affair  was  a  spontaneous  revolt,  that  was 
afterwards  led  and  supported  by  the  L  W.  W.  Though 
crushed  out,  it  gave  rise  to  conditions  that  caused 
wages  to  be  raised  and  camp  conditions  to  be  im- 
proved thruout  California.  For  years  the  I.  W.  W. 
had  led  in  the  organization  of  the  agricultural  work- 
ers, with  increasing  success.  In  1916,  it  organized 
a  1000  mile  picket  line,  extending  from  the  South- 
west into  Canada,  that  boosted  wages  and  improved 
conditions  thruout  the  western  farming  country.  The 
I.  W.  W.  has,  to  a  great  extent,  eliminated  the  high- 
jacks, bootleggers  and  stick-ups  from  among  the  mig- 
ratory farm  laborers ;  and  turned  a  lot  of  aimless,  so- 
called  bums  into  self-respecting  workingmen,  with  a 
sprinkling  of  idealists.  The  L  W.  W.  protects  the 
migratory  worker  from  petty  police  and  other  graft 
and  the  attempts  of  the  commercial  clubs  and  farm- 
ers' organizations  to  reduce  wages  and  conditions  to 
the  previous  low  and  abominable  standards.  It  de- 
fends its  members.  It  substitutes  mutual  aid  for  ex- 
ploitation. 

In  1912,  the  I.  W.  W.  consolidated  the  migratory 
workers  in  the  lumber  camps  of  the  Northwest  into  a 
real  industrial  unit.  Its  first  clash  was  in  the  very 
heart  of  the  lumber  trust  domain,  in  the  city  of  Aber- 

14 


deen,  Grays  Harbor  County,  Wash.  The  strikers  won 
their  demands  and  improved  conditions,  after  a  stren- 
uous tussle. 

In  1916  came  the  Puget  Sound  struggle  with  the 
lumber  trust.  This  struggle  is  typical  of  the  I.  W.  W. 
conception  of  working  class  solidarity.  In  it,  the  1. 
W.  W.  joined  the  A.  F.  of  L.  shingle  weavers  and 
'longshoremen  on  strike,  in  a  fight  for  free  speech. 
The  lumber  trust  decided  the  time  had  come  to  hit 
back.  This  resulted  in  a  summer  replete  with  law- 
lessenss  and  disorder  on  the  part  of  the  trust's  hench- 
men. It  ended  in  a  final  desperate  attempt  on  the 
part  of  the  lumber  trust,  aided  by  the  commercial 
club  to  drive  the  1.  W.  W.  out  of  Everett,  Wash. 
Seven  I.  W.  W.  members  were  massacred.  Seventy- 
four  of  their  fellow  workers  were,  subsequently,  found 
not  guilty  by  a  jury,  and  the  odium  of  the  whole 
tragic  episode  thrown  where  it  belonged,  on  the  com- 
mercial club  and  its  master,  the  lumber  trust.  Infuri- 
ated, the  lumber  trust  took  steps  that  later  ended  in 
the  passage  of  the  notorious  Washington  State  ^'Crim- 
inal Syndicalism''  Law,  which  has  been  used  against 
the  A.  F.  of  L.,  I.  W.  W.,  Socialist  Party,  and  even 
common  working  stiffs  not  connected  with  any  organ- 
ization, revolutionary  or  otherwise. 

But,  0  boy!  1917  was  the  eventful  year.  In  the 
early  summer  of  1917  the  lumber  trust  strike  started. 
It  spread  like  wildfire  thruout  the  Northwest,  tying 
up  the  lumber  trusts's  operations  in  five  states  tighter 
than  a  drum.  The  industry  was  paralyzed.  It  was 
a  long  and  bloody  fight,  with  the  workers  apparently 
defeated.  But  the  lumber  ^'beasts"  went  back  to 
work,  only  to  continue  the  fight  there.  They  worked 
8  hours  and  then  quit  for  the  day.  In  this  way  they 
gained  their  main  demand,  their  principal  demand — 
the  eight  hour  day.  Most  of  their  other  demands 
were  granted  as  well,  including  mattresses,  clean  li- 
nen and  shower  baths,  where  filth  and  foulness  had 
been  before!  This  struggle  was  a  great  test  of  mil- 
itant unionism  vs.  industrial  autocracy,  with  the  vic- 
tory going,  for  the  time  being,  to  the  former.  The 
war — 


15 


THE  I.  W.  W.  AND  THE  WAR. 


Morrison  (breaking  in) :  Now  you  are  coming  to  it,  Bob. 
The  war!  That  was  the  great,  the  crucial  period  for 
the  L  W.  W.,  which  has  come  out  of  it  covered  with 
glory.  The  war  caused  the  I.  W.  W.  to  be  subjugated 
to  every  outrage  conceivable,  at  the  hands  of  both 
authorities  and  mobs.  Its  members  were  illegally  ar- 
rested, lynched,  deported,  driven  insane,  and  denied 
every  vestige  of  fair  play  and  decency.  The  treat- 
ment accorded  to  them  was  inhuman  and  uncivilized. 
Still,  the  1.  W.  W.  lives,  triumphant,  thru  it  all. 

Walsh  (with  emotion):  Sure,  there  is  no  killing  them! 
Like  truth  itself  they  are  hard  to  down!  They — 

Morrison  (continuing) :  This  persecution  was  originally 
supposed  to  be  due  to  the  initiative  of  the  lumber 
and  mining  interests,  against  which  the  I.  W.  W.  had 
waged  extensive  strikes,  in  1917,  in  the  states  of 
Washington,  Oregon,  Montana,  Arizona  and  else- 
where. It  was  charged  that  these  lumber  and  copper- 
mine  strikes  hampered  the  pursuit  of  the  war  indus- 
tries. But  subsequent  federal  investigations  disclosed 
the  fact  that  the  aeroplane  and  ship  building  pro- 
grams were  held  up  by  defective  material  sold  by 
lumber  interests  at  exorbitant  prices;  while  the  cop- 
per industry  was  not  at  all  affected.  Further,  the  A. 
F.  of  L.  conducted  over  7,000  war-time  strikes, 
without  suffering  any  such  savage  attacks  as  the  I. 
W.  W.,  encountered.  It  was  also  charged  that  the  I. 
W.  W.  was  paid  ^^German  gold''  to  plot  against  the 
country.  But,  as  Bob  has  already  shown,  no  evidence 
was  ever  produced  to  sustain  this  charge,  either  di- 
rectly or  indirectly. 

WAR  THE  PLUTOCRATS'  OPPORTUNITY. 

The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  the  war  provided  a 
good  opportunity  to  crush  an  organization  with  such 
democratic  ideals  of  industry  as  the  I.  W.  W.  The 
results  show  that  the  war  was  a  plutocratic  war. 

The  I.  W.  W.  was  and  is  strictly  industrial  in  its 
aims  and  methods.  This,  in  a  state  with  an  industrial 

16 


foundation  and  frame  work,  is  intolerable  to  the  cap- 
italist powers  that  be.  It  menaces  their  might.  In 
that  consist  the  real  offense  of  the  I.  W.  W.,  whether 
in  peace  or  war. 

President  Woodrow  Wilson,  in  his  St.  Louis,  Sept. 
6,  1919,  speech  said:  ^The  seed  of  war  is  industrial 
and  commercial  rivalry."  This  war  (referring  to  the 
world  war)  is  an  industrial  and  commercial  war." 

Since  then  a  rear-admiral  of  the  United  States 
Navy,  A.  P.  Niblack,  has  written  a  book  entitled  ''Why 
Wars  Come."  In  it,  on  page  146,  he  says:  "No  one 
can,  however,  make  a  thorough  an  impartial  inquiry 
into  the  causes  of  war  without  realizing  their  roots  run 
deep  into  the  soil  of  trade  rivalry  and  economic  aspi- 
rations." 

The  1.  W.  W.  was  aware  of  all  this  in  advance  of 
the  entrance  of  the  U.  S.  into  the  war.  While  it  op- 
posed the  war  it  could  not  stop  this  country  from  going 
into  it.  It  was  far  too  small  for  the  enormous  job ;  and, 
accordingly,  did  not  undertake  it.  It  also  had  its 
hands  too  full  of  agriculture,  mining  and  lumber  strikes 
to  take  any  collective  stand  thereon.  It,  consequently, 
left  the  matter  to  the  discretion  of  its  individual 
members,  some  of  whom  turned  conscientious  ob- 
jectors; while  many  more  were  conscripted  and  went 
into  active  service,  seeing  actual  warfare  in  the 
trenches  in  France;  or  risking  their  lives,  as  seamen, 
aboard  transports,  in  the  submarine  zone. 

As  was  said  before,  the  war  provided  an  ex- 
cellent opportunity  to  crush  the  I.  W.  W.  This  op- 
portunity was  seized  upon  with  avidity.  Frank  Little, 
a  member  of  the  general  executive  board  of  the  1. 
W.  W.,  was  lynched  in  Butte,  Montana,  during  this 
period,  by  copper  trust  thugs.  One  thousand,  two 
hundred  copper  mine  strikers  at  Bisbee,  Arizona, 
were  illegally  deported  from  that  state  into  New 
Mexico  by  similar  forces.  Scores  of  others  were 
forced  to  leave  the  country  or  were  illegally  de- 
tained by  department  of  justice  and  department  of 
immigration  authorities.  Hundreds  of  I.  W.  W.s  were 
seized  in  Chicago,  Wichita  and  Sacramento  in  the 
fall  of  1917  and  afterwards  sent  to  prison  for  long 
terms.    Not  on  evidence  proving  individual  overt 


17 


acts,  but  showing  the  possession  of  collective  ideals 
not  in  conformity  with  the  prevailing  plutocratic  war 
spirit;  though  thoroughly  in  accordance  with  the  con- 
stitution, whose  guarantees  of  free  speech,  free  press, 
free  assemblage,  had  been  overthrown.  In  the  war 
for  democracy,  among  the  truest  defenders  of  its 
ideals,  were  the  1.  W.  W.  They  fought  that  war  at 
home,  against  plutocratic  conspiracies. 

The  truth  is,  that  the  I.  W.  W.  was  the  victim  of 
war  hysteria.  This,  in  turn,  was  the  result  of  a  well 
planned  propaganda  in  favor  of  war;  and  in  deter- 
mined, ruthles  opposition  to  every  movement  op- 
posed to  war,  either  lawfully  or  otherwise. 

WAR  ACCENTUATES  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  AND 
INCREASES  I.  W.  W.  GROWTH 

This,  all  of  the  above  and  subsequent  facts  too 
plainly  show.  But  the  I.  W.  W.  is  alive  today,  strong 
and  flourishing,  because  the  war  has  not  only  failed 
to  kill  it,  but  also  because  the  war  has  not  abolished 
the  conditions  out  of  which  the  1.  W.  W.  grew.  On 
the  contrary,  the  war  has  accentuated  every  one  of 
them  instead. 

Hammond  (seconding  Morrison) :  Even  after  the  war, 
in  the  armistice  period,  when  interference  with  the 
war  could  no  longer  be  alleged,  patriotism  continued 
to  be  the.  cloak  behind  which  the  I.  W.  W.  was  perse- 
cuted. In  Centralia,  Wash.,  on  armistice  day  in 
1919,  a  conspiracy  of  commercial  and  lumber  trust 
interests  used  the  American  Legion  as  a  cats-paw  to 
mob  the  headquarters  of  the  L  W.  W.  there.  The 
members  of  the  latter  defended  their  lives  and  pro- 
perty, killing  four  of  the  lawless  element.  In  this, 
perfectly  lawful  defense  of  themselves,  the  1.  W.  W.s 
suffered  losses  also.  One  of  the  members  killed  was 
Wesley  Everest,  an  overseas  veteran,  who  was  treated 
most  inhumanly  and  then  hung  from  a  bridge. 

Another  I.  W.  W.  went  insane,  due  to  the  same 
causes.  A  jury  at  Montesano,  subsequently,  despite 
great  pressure  in  favor  of  capital  punishment,  sent 
seven  I.  W.  W.'s  to  the  penitentiary  at  Walla  Walla. 
Since  then,  five  members  of  the  jury  have  signed  affi- 

18 


davits  declaring  the  innocence  of  the  convicted  men 
and  that  the  jury  was  intimidated.  The  whole  grew- 
some  tale  is  told  in  'Was  It  Murder?"  a  book  by 
Walker  C.  Smith,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred  for 
all  of  the  details,  including  the  jurors'  affidavits.  An- 
other work,  by  Ralph  C.  Chaplin,  ''The  Centralia  Con- 
spiracy," should  also  be  read. 

"CRIMINAL  SYNDICALISM" 

Nor  was  that  all.  Scores  of  states  passed  criminal 
syndicalism  laws  that  have  been  enforced  only  against 
the  I.  W.  W.  and  were  evidently  intended  to  be  used 
solely  against  it.  These  laws  are  flagrant  abuses  of 
constitutional  law  and  common  decency.  Under  their 
customary  interpretations  in  Washington,  California 
and  other  states,  no  crime  needs  to  be  proven ;  mem- 
bership in  the  I.  W.  W.  alone  is  enough  to  convict. 
The  I.  W.  W.  is  accordingly  sent  to  prison  not  for  its 
acts  but  its  ideas. 

Hammond  (angrily) :  Yes,  the  I.  W.  W.  gets  some  aw- 
fully raw  deals  under  these  laws.  Take  the  case  of 
Howard  D.  Welton,  ex-soldier  and  I.  W.  W.  member, 
sentenced  to  14  years  in  San  Quentin  prison  on  a 
charge  of  criminal  syndicalism,  who  refused  an  offer 
of  pardon  on  the  ground  that  acceptance  would  be 
an  admission  of  guilt  in  the  commission  of  a  crime. 

Says  Welton,  of  himself  and  five  companions  sen- 
tenced together  with  him,  in  a  letter  to  the  judge  who 
sentenced  them  and  who  made  him  the  offer  so  hero- 
ically rejected : 

"Our  'crime'  was  advocating  a  change  in  the  pre- 
sent insane  social  system  by  peaceful,  orderly,  effi- 
cient methods,  and  it  is  in  the  efficiency  of  industrial 
unionism  to  provide  such  a  change  that  our  offense 
lies,  in  the  eyes  of  the  dominating  class  today." 

Therein  will  be  found  the  real  ''crime"  of  the  1. 
W.  W.  and  the  real  attitude  of  the  criminal  syndical- 
ist laws  passed  against  it.  The  I.  W.  W.  wants  to 
change  society  in  an  orderly,  efficient  manner  by 
means  of  industrial  unionism.  For  this  is  it  oppressed, 
and  for  this  do  the  Weltons  and  thousands  of  other 
workers  in  its  ranks  suffer  martyrdom ! 

19 


But  despite  it  all,  the  I.  W.  W.,  like  Banqou's  ghost, 
refuses  to  down.  Though  put  on  the  defensive  for 
some  time,  its  intrepid  course  soon  put  the  criminal 
syndicalism  laws  into  the  discard  in  the  state  of  Wash- 
ington and  tempered  its  rigorous  enforcement  in  other 
states,  not  even  excluding  the  most  vicious  of  them  ail, 
California,  the  beautiful  and  damned.  The  I.  W.  W. 
lives  and  grows  despite  them.   All  hell  can't  stop  it. 

Walsh  (playfully):  Quit  slandering  hell!  Its  hell — the 
capitalist  hell  here  on  earth — that  makes  the  1.  W.  W. 
grow! 

Scissorbill  (perplexed) :  Sure,  something  makes  it  grow; 
nothing  seems  to  kill  it.  And  it  can't  grow  of  itself. 

1921— THE  1.  W.  W.  "COMES  BACK" 

Morrison  (laughing) :  Even  Scissorbill  can  see  that.  Be- 
tween you  and  me.  Scissor,  I  think  the  authorities  and 
the  capitalists  are  bribed  by  the  I.  W.  W.  to  attack 
it  and  keep  it  alive  by  doing  so.  But,  say!  It  sure 
does  ^^come  back''  in  great  style.  Look  at  that  1921 
drive  in  the  harvest  fields,  eh.  Bob?  !  13,000  new  mem- 
bers added  to  the  list,  because  the  agricultural  indus- 
rial  union  prevented  the  commercial  clubs  and  farm- 
ers' organizations  from  knocking  the  bottom  out  of 
wages  and  increasing  hours  to  any  old  length,  with 
the  aid  of  industrial  depression.  That  drive  gave  an 
impetus  to  the  task  of  organizing  the  oil  workers  in- 
dustrial union  in  the  Southwest.  It  also  inspired  the 
construction  workers  and  lumber  workers  industrial 
unions  to  renewed  efforts.  And  how  about  the  sea- 
men along  the  two  coasts  and  the  great  lakes;  eh, 
Jack,  old  scout?  They  are  joining  the  I.  W.  W. 
Marine  Transport  Workers'  Industrial  Union,  to- 
gether with  the  longshoremen  and  dock  wallopers  at 
New  York  and  other  ports.  And  the  metal  mines  are 
opening  up  again  in  Butte,  and  other  copper  centers, 
with  a  resumption  of  1.  W.  W.  activity  there  too.  Did 
the  war  kill  the  I.  W.  W.?! 

Walsh  (in  the  same  mood) :  Sure  it  did;  just  as  Henry 
Ford  killed  off  the  Jews  and  Lloyd  George  set  old 
Ireland  free. 

20 


SOLIDARITY  1.  W.  W.'S  MIDDLE  NAME 

Morrison  (growing  eloquent) :  Talk  about  "coming 
back."  Did  you  see  the  way  the  L  W.  W.  came  out 
in  sympathy  with  the  United  Association  of  Masters, 
Mates  and  Pilots  in  the  New  York  harbor  strike,  in 
January,  1922 ;  and  how  it  also  took  part  in  the  pack- 
ing house  strike  in  Chicago,  Kansas  City  and  Omaha 
in  the  winter  of  1921-22?  Did  you  notice  the  way 
I.  W.  W.  press,  backed  up  the  striking  miners  of 
West  Virginia  and  Kansas,  during  the  same  period? 
When  it  comes  to  solidarity,  that  word  is  written  all 
over  L  W.  W.  history.  In  1911,  the  1.  W.  W.  took  the 
leading  part,  at  Lawrence,  Mass.,  in  forming  a  textile 
alliance  of  independent  organizations.  In  New  York 
City,  in  the  winter  of  1920,  the  1.  W.  W.  took  the 
initiative  in  calling  the  One  Big  Union  conference, 
for  the  purpose  of  forming  the  independent  unions 
of  the  metropolis  into  one  central  body.  Early,  in 
1921,  the  1.  W.  W.  in  the  same  city,  took  part  in  the 
formation  of  the  unemployed  conference.  The  I.  W. 
W.  has  helped  along  the  Mooney,  Sacco  and  Vanzetti, 
Political  Prisoners,  and  other  workmen's  defenses. 
And  it  has  stood  behind  Howat  and  Dorchy  in  their 
struggles  with  the  Kansas  Industrial  court  and  the 
reactionary  Lewis  machine.  The  persecuted  miners 
of  New  Laf  erty,  Ohio,  and  Somerset  and  Fayette  coun- 
ties,Penn.,  and  of  Logan  county.  West  Virginia,  (1922) 
have  received  its  support,  as  have  also  the  movements 
for  civil  liberties,  peace,  and  against  Fascismo,  both 
at  home  and  abroad.  The  I.  W.  W.  is  nothing  if  not 
working  class  in  spirit  and  history.  It  is  an  organ- 
ization that  every  worker  ought  to  join. 

THE  BIG  STRIKES  OF  1922 

1922  also  saw  a  series  of  big  construction  workers' 
strikes  under  the  I.  W.  W.  leadership.  They  took 
place  in  Washington,  Oregon  and  California.  The 
largest  were  in  the  latter  state,  on  the  Hetch-Hetchy 
and  Southern  California  Edison  reservoir  and  power 
plant  projects.  Approximately  20,000  workers  were 
involved  in  all  these  strikes.    They  resulted  in  the 


21 


granting  of  the  eight-hour  day,  increased  hourly  wages 
and  improved  other  conditions.  Another  noteworthy 
strike  was  the  Portland,  Oregon,  waterfront  strike 
against  discrimination.  An  arrogant  Mayor  was  com- 
pelled to  back  down  in  this  strike.  Lesser  strikes  took 
place  among  oil,  marine  transport  and  lumber  workers, 
with  gains  in  proportion. 

It  was  during  1922  that  the  great  A.  F.  of  L.  coal 
and  railroad  strikes  also  took  place.  Almost  a  million 
coal  miners  and  railroad  shop  craftsmen  were  out 
against  wage  reductions  and  the  open  shop.  In  both 
strikes  the  militia  and  the  injunction  played  a  part; 
the  latter  figured  most  largely  in  the  shop  crafts  strike. 

I.  W.  W.  RAILROAD  FACTOR 

The  I.  W.  W.  was  a  factor  in  both  strikes,  giving  its 
whole-hearted  support  to  them  in  accordance  with  its 
principle  of  working  class  solidarity  in  times  of  con- 
flict with  the  capitalist  class.  During  August,  1922, 
Attorney  General  Daugherty  stated  ^^that  a  relation 
existed  between  the  railroad  strike  and  the  I.  W.  W.'' 
^There  are  indications,^'  he  said,  ^^that  the  I.  W.  W.'s 
are  willing  to  take  over  some  responsibility  of  rail- 
way transportation  and  even  the  government  itself  in 
the  West.'' 

To  this  statement  Martin  Carlson,  then  general 
secretary  of  the  Railroad  Workers'  Industrial  Union, 
I.  W.  W.,  made  the  following  answer:  'Tt  is  true  that 
there  are  I.  W.  W.  members  among  the  railroad  strik- 
ers in  various  centers,  who  have  demonstrated  their 
objection  to  military  despotism  by  quitting  their  job. 
There  are  I.  W.  W.  members  also  among  the  men 
at  work  in  other  railroad  departments,  and  they,  too, 
would  be  out  on  strike  if  the  majority  of  the  workers 
in  those  departments  had  not  been  under  the  domin- 
ation of  their  Grand  Lodge  oflScers. 

^Tt  is  true,  too,"  Carlson  admitted,  'That  the  I.  W. 
W.'s  are  willing  to  take  over  some  of  the  responsibility 
of  railroad  transportation.  They  are  willing  and 
eager,"  he  declared,  ''to  take  over,  not  merely  'some 
responsibility,'  but  all  responsibility  for  railroad  trans- 
portation and  for  the  conduct  of  all  other  productive 
industries. 

22 


''But  the  charge  that  the  1.  W.  W.  wishes  to  take 
over  the  reins  of  political  government  is  no  more  true 
than  it  ever  was.  We  have  no  interest  in  directing 
any  of  the  affairs  which  are  directed  at  the  White 
House.  The  industries  of  the  country,  and  not  the 
political  parties,  are  the  nation's  life-blood. 

'If  the  great  army  of  productive  workers  in  the 
basic  industries  were  solidly  organized  instead  of  be- 
ing split  apart  as  they  are  in  the  railroad  crafts  and 
throughout  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  they 
would  become  the  supreme  power.  They  could  be  cer- 
tain then  of  adequate  nutrition,  adequate  clothing,  and 
sufficient  leisure  in  which  to  replenish  their  bodies  and 
minds  instead  of  being  worn  down  on  the  industrial 
treadmill  as  they  are  today.'' 

Among  other  important  1922  events  in  I.  W.  W. 
history  was  the  14th  Convention,  held  in  Chicago,  111., 
beginning  November  13.  Thirty-five  delegates  were 
present  from  the  agriculutral,  lumber,  marine  trans- 
portation, railroad,  oil,  mining,  metal-machinery,  tex- 
tile, printing,  and  other  industries.  The  development 
of  an  Educational  Bureau,  international  relations,  ex- 
tension of  organization  press,  and  many  other  prob- 
lems were  discussed  and  legislated  upon. 

THE  1923  GENERAL  STRIKES 

This  brings  us  down  to  1923,  which  was  made  note- 
worthy because  of  the  general  industrial  strikes  in  be- 
half of  the  class-war  prisoners  and  immediate  eco- 
nomic demands.  These  strikers  were  most  effective  in 
the  lumber  industry  of  the  Northwest  and  marine 
transport  industry,  particularly  of  the  Atlantic  Coast, 
with  New  York  as  headquarters.  Reinforcements  of 
oil  workers  and  construction  workers  were  also  a  part 
of  the  general  strikes.  Their  storm  center  was  San 
Pedro,  Calif.  About  100,000  workers  are  estimated  to 
have  taken  part  in  them.  They  were  marked  by  order 
and  solidarity. 

A  noteworthy  incident  of  the  general  strikes  was 
the  "clean-up"  of  booze  joints  in  Seattle,  Portland 
and  Tacoma  by  "direct  action"  squads.  The  slogan 
was:  "Workers,  you  can't  fight  both  booze  and  the 


23 


boss."  So  the  illegal  saloons  were  closed — and  closed 
tight,  as  long  as  the  general  strikes  lasted. 

The  results  of  the  general  strike  were  beneficial. 
They  served  to  call  attention  to  the  continued  incar- 
ceration of  wartime  prisoners  and  the  vicious  Cali- 
fornia criminal  syndicalism  law.  A  large  amount  ol 
publicity  for  general  amnesty  appeared  in  the  press, 
and  the  California  syndicalism  law  was  rendered  al- 
most void,  subsequently  to  the  general  strike. 

In  the  lumber  industry,  greatly  improved  camp 
conditions  and  a  growth  of  organization  resulted. 
While  the  marine  transport  workers  got  a  15  to  20 
per  cent  wage  increase  above  Shipping  Board  rates, 
and  the  three-watch  system,  which  was  lost  during  the 
1921  A.  F.  of  L.  strike. 

The  general  strikes  had  another  great  effect, 
namely,  to  give  renewed  impetus  to  I.  W.  W.  activity 
in  all  directions. 

SOME  I.  W.  W.  PRESS  ACHIEVEMENTS 

In  June,  1922,  the  I.  W.  W.  press,  acting  in  con- 
junction with  the  Defense  News  Service,  secured  the 
first  representation  of  the  mine  workers'  side  of  the 
so-called  massacre  at  Herrin,  111.  It  sent  Geo.  Williams 
there,  and  his  write-up,  showing  that  the  mine  workers 
had  acted  in  defense  of  their  rights  and  lives  against 
the  attacks  of  lawless  gunmen,  made  a  great  impres- 
sion in  the  miners'  favor,  and,  no  doubt,  created  a 
sentiment  that  helped  to  defeat  the  subsequent  legal 
attempts  to  fasten  the  crime  of  murder  upon  them. 

On  March  16,  1923,  in  its  March  24th  issue,  Indus- 
trial Solidarity,  1.  W.  W.  weekly  published  at  Chicago, 
111.,  printed  the  first  report  of  the  Martin  Tabert  tur- 
pentine camp  tragedy.  This  tragedy  was  subsequently 
investigated  by  the  New  York  World  and  acted  on  by 
the  Florida  legislature,  which  caused  the  county  offi- 
cials responsible  for  Tabert's  death  to  be  indicted. 

It  will  not  be  amiss  to  add  that,  both  in  1922  and 
1923,  the  I.  W.  W.  was  a  factor  in  the  steel  industry. 
In  the  former  year,  it  lead  a  successful  strike  at  Chi- 
cago Heights,  111.  This  was  followed  by  a  general 
increase  in  steel  workers'  wages.   In  the  latter  year, 


24 


it  took  charge  of  a  revolt  in  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Com- 
pany's works  at  Bethlehem,  Pa.  Again  was  a  general 
increase  of  11  per  cent  an  after-effect.  The  preven- 
tion of  more  extensive  I.  W.  W.  organization  was  the 
motive  behind  both  raises.  It  should  serve  to  show 
the  workers  the  value  of  continued  organization.  By 
means  of  the  latter,  they  will  finally  be  able  to  obtain 
all  the  wealth  that  their  labor  produces,  thereby  ex- 
cluding the  profits  of  capitalism. 

In  1923,  the  I.  W.  W.  was  also  a  great  factor,  quite 
logically,  in  behalf  of  the  eight-hour  day  for  steel 
workers. 

It  was  during  1922-23  that  the  I.  W.  W.  had  its 
internal  struggle  with  the  communists,  who  undertook 
to  do  what  all  the  other  forces  in  American  society 
had  failed  to  do,  namely,  liquidate,  i.  e.,  destroy  the 
I.  W.  W.  The  communists  wished  to  drive  the  I.  W.  W. 
back  into  the  A.  F.  of  L.  They  wished  to  force  on  the 
I.  W.  W.  the  theory  of  revolutionizing  the  A.  F.  of  L. 
from  within.  They  have  since  learned  the  error  of 
their  ways,  as  the  A.  F.  of  L.  has  made  ^ ^boring  from 
within'^  impossible  by  throwing  out  the  borers,  in  real 
old-fashioned  style — body,  boots  and  breeches.  How- 
ever, the  L  W.  W.  declined  to  change  and,  in  the  short 
and  decisive  struggle  that  followed,  the  communists 
found  themselves  on  the  losing  side,  in  the  I.  W.  W., 
just  as  they  are  in  the  A.  F.  of  L. 

The  I.  W.  W.  has  a  record  of  which  every  worker 
should  be  proud  and  which  should  cause  every  worker 
to  join  it. 

Walsh  and  Hammond  (together) :  You  bet!  Every  worker 
ought  to  join  the  I.  W.  W. 

Scissorbill  (catching  the  fever) :  Gee,  I  think  Til  join  it 
myself,  only — — 

Walsh,  Morrison,  Hammond  (in  unison)  :  "Only,''  you'll 
change  your  mind  and  won't. 

Scissorbill  (anxiously) :  Honest  fellers.  Only,  I  am  not 
clear  on  some  points. 

Morrison  (eagerly) :  What  are  they?   Out  with  them 
quick ! 


25 


Scissorbill  (complying) :  I  am  not  clear  as  to  why  the 
1.  W.  W.  is  called  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the 
World.  It  seems  to  me  that  it  is  only  a  small  body 
of  American  workmen,  and  those,  mainly,  migratory 
workers — ''pesky  runabouts,^'  I  think  they  have  been 
called. 

Walsh  (derisively) :  Ah,  what  are  you  giving  us.  Scissor? 
Sure  your  tribe  hates  internationalism  more  than  il 
loves  nationalism.  You're  individualists.  Its  your- 
selves only  that  you're  stuck  on  ■ 

THE  I.  W.  W.  ABROAD. 

Hammond  (deprecatingly) :  Say,  Jack,  lay  off  the  per- 
sonalities. Let's  give  Scissor  the  benefit  of  the  doubt. 
Let's  tell  him  what  he  wants  to  know.  The  1.  W.  W. 
is  called  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World  because 
it  tries  to  organize  the  world's  workers  on  the  indus- 
trial union  basis.  In  pursuit  of  this  object,  it  has 
administrations  in  Great  Britain,  Mexico,  Sweden 
and  Chile.  The  I.  W.  W.  is  also  international  in  the 
make  up  of  its  membership,  who  come  from  all  coun- 
tries; and  of  its  press,  which  consists  of  thirteen  pub- 
lications in  ten  languages.  The  1.  W.  W.  press 
has  a  history  of  its  own.  It  is  read  and  exerts  a  great 
influence  in  foreign  lands.  The  Spanish  1.  W.  W. 
paper,  for  instance,  is  a  great  factor  in  Mexico,  and 
Central  and  South  America.  The  I.  W.  W.  preamble 
has  been  printed  in  Greek,  Chinese,  Japanese  and 
other  languages.  The  internationalism  of  the  I.  W. 
W.  is  evident  in  the  character  and  circulation  of  its 
publications.  In  addition  to  its  own  administrations 
in  various  foreign  lands,  the  I.  W.  W.  maintains 
affiliations  with  labor  organizations  all  over  the 
world.  In  1919,  the  I.  W.  W.  issued  a  call  for  an  in- 
ternational conference  of  labor  organizations.  It 
took  part  in  such  a  conference  at  Berlin  in  December, 
1920.  At  this  conference,  it  was  agreed  to  participate 
in  the  Red  Trade  Union  International  congress  at 
Moscow,  in  July,  1921.  Though  represented  on  this 
occasion,  the  I.  W.  W.  subsequently,  repudiated  the 
decisions  of  the  Moscow  congress,  as  they  provided 
for  communist  political  domination  instead  of  co- 

26 


operation,  as  at  first  agreed  on.  These  decisions,  fur- 
ther, were  destructive  of  industrial  unionism  and 
favorable  to  reaction  in  labor  organization.  At  the 
close  of  the  Moscow,  1921,  conference,  however,  the 
I.  W.  W.  joined  with  labor  organizations  in  Italy, 
Germany,  Spain,  Norway,  Sweden,  Denmark,  France, 
Argentina  and  Uruguay,  in  favor  of  a  real  interna- 
tional labor  organization,  free  from  political  domina- 
tion and  advocating  the  industrial  method  in  social 
change. 

In  1922  it  decided  on  friendly  relations  with  all 
labor  internationals. 

THE  I.  W.  W.  AND  POLITICS. 

The  I.  W.  W.  is  neither  anti-  nor  pro-political. 
Members  may  vote  as,  or  belong  to  any  political  party, 
they  please. 

The  I.  W.  W.  has  had  to  struggle  with  political 
socialists  at  various  times  in  its  history.  Once,  in 
1907,  when  it  practically  expelled  the  followers  of 
the  Socialist  Labor  Party,  who  sought  to  fit  the  I.  W. 
W.  into  their  own  secretarian  straight- jacket.  And 
again,  in  1912,  when  the  Socialist  Party  enacted  its 
suicidal  section  six.  These  struggles  were  the  cause 
of  much  friction  and  disruption.  The  struggle  with 
the  communists,  in  1922,  however,  was  short  and  de- 
cisive. This  was  partly  due  to  the  settled  convictions 
of  the  I.  W.  W.,  regarding  the  superiority  of  the  indus- 
trial over  the  political  method  of  social  transformation. 
The  change  of  Russian  economic  policy,  in  favor  of 
capitalism,  by  the  communist  political  leaders,  also 
helped  the  I.  W.  W.,  as  it  deprived  the  politicians  of 
moral  prestige  and  standing.  When  this  change  of 
policy  ran  up  against  I.  W.  W.  convictions,  born  of 
experience,  the  communist  chances  of  securing  con- 
trol of  the  I.  W.  W.,  were  completely  wrecked.  As  a 
result,  the  communists  lost  out  quickly  and  decisively. 

THE  I.  W.  W.  AND  THE  RUSSIAN  REVOLUTION 

The  I.  W.  W.,  in  its  internationalism,  has  always 
stood  ready  to  help  the  cause  of  revolution  in  other 
lands.    WlEien  the  Mexicans  overthrew  Diaz,  the  I. 


27 


W.  W.s  rushed  over  the  Southern  border  and  took 
part  in  the  work  of  liberation  there.  When  the  No- 
vember, 1917,  revolution  in  Russia  gave  all  power  to 
the  peasants',  workers'  and  soldiers'  councils,  the 
I.  W.  W.  naturally  rejoiced.  Though  sorely  pressed 
by  domestic  war  reactionists,  though  its  members 
were  jailed  and  persecuted  by  the  thousands,  though 
its  press  was  often  destroyed  and  put  out  of  business, 
the  I.  W.  W.  advocated  the  cause  of  the  Russian  Re- 
volution, regardless  of  consequences.  This  is  espe- 
cially true  of  the  Industrial  Worker,  weekly  English 
I.  W.  W.  paper.  The  Worker  printed  interviews  with 
the  mate  of  the  Shilka,  a  Russian  ship  that  arrived  at 
Seattle,  Wash.,  shortly  after  the  November,  1917,  up- 
heaval. These  interviews  were  among  the  very  first 
printed  in  this  country,  to  give  real  information  about 
the  situation  in  Russia.  They  caused  The  Industrial 
Worker  to  be  more  bitterly  assailed  than  ever  before. 
They  even  led  to  its  suppression  for  a  short  period. 

Also,  as  in  the  case  of  Mexico,  scores  of  I.  W.  W.s 
left  for  Russia,  to  engage  in  the  struggle  there,  and 
to  aid  in  the  economic  reconstruction  of  the  country. 
Their  more  modern  American  industrial  training  and 
experience  made  them  invaluable  aides.  That  the 
I.  W.  W.  did  not  engage  in  armed  insurrection  and 
mass  action  here,  as  a  back  fire  in  favor  of  the  Rus- 
sian revolution,  was  due  to  its  opposition  to  these 
theories.  The  I.  W.  W.  had  too  much  faith  in  indus- 
trial union  action  to  start  any  revolution  here  in  favor 
of  Russia.  The  American  Communists  themselves  nei- 
ther insurrected  nor  mass-acted;  for  "strategic"  rea- 
sons best  known  to  themselves. 

RUSSIA  VINDICATES  I.  W.  W. 

However,  the  Russian  revolution,  by  forcing  the 
labor  unions  of  Russia  to  operate  private  industries 
and  state  enterprises,  thereby  saving  the  country 
from  utter  chaos  and  disaster,  proved  I.  W.  W.  me- 
thods right.  The  Russian  revolution  showed  once 
more,  as  did  the  subsequent  peasant  sabotage  of  the 
Bolsheviki,  that  no  state  can  rise  above  the  eco- 
nomic development  of  its  times.  This  is  I.  W.  W. 


28 


teaching — vindicated  by  a  great  episode  in  the  world 
war. 

Regarding  Russia,  it  may  be  said,  that  scores  and 
scores  of  workers  in  Russia  since  the  beginning  of 
the  revolution,  from  England  and  America,  former 
members  of  the  I.  W.  W.,  join  in  saying  that  their 
experiences  there  have  proven  the  1.  W.  W.  position 
correct.  The  new  society  can  not  be  state-made.  It 
must  grow  out  of  industry,  through  industrial  organi- 
zation. 

Morrison  (approvingly) :  That  was  a  good  long  expla- 
nation, on  why  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World 
are  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World,  Bob.  But 
it  leaves  ScissorbilFs  question  regarding  the  migrat- 
ory make-up  of  the  I.  W.  W.  untouched.  How  about 
that? 

Walsh  (interrupting) :  Ah,  Scissorbill  simply  asks  ques- 
tions to  get  excuses  for  not  joining.  Before  he  gets 
the  floor,  I  want  to  say  something  about  I.  W.  W. 
internationalism.  Now,  take  the  members  of  the 
marine  transport  workers'  industrial  union.  They 
have  taken  part  in  strikes  in  Tampico,  Mexico,  and 
in  other  ports.  They  now  exchange  cards  with  Ger- 
man, French,  Scandinavian  and  other  seamen's  unions, 
giving  their  members  the  same  rights  in  1.  W.  W. 
unions  as  the  1.  W.  W.'s  enjoy.  They  have  branches 
in  Sweden,  France  and  England.  Also  port  delegates 
in  England,  Mexico,  Chili,  Germany,  Panama,  Uru- 
guay and  Argentina.  Leave  it  to  the  I.  W.  W.  to 
live  up  to  its  name. 

Hammond  (breaking  in) :  The  I.  W.  W.  also  helped  the 
strikes  of  miners  in  Mexico,  near  the  border.  It  has 
aided  the  Mexican  workers  in  the  border  states.  In 
Canada,  it  co-operates,  in  the  lumber  industry,  with 
the  Canadian  One  Big  Union  lumbermen's  locals. 
Solidarity! — industrial  and  international — is  the  1. 
W.  W.  slogan. 

I.  W.  W.  A  CLASS,  NOT  A  CASTE,  ORGANIZATION 

Morrison  (laughing) :  Say,  will  you  wobblies  ever  get 
over  the  habit  of  expounding  doctrines  when  Scissor- 

29 


bills  ask  for  facts?  Is  the  I.  W.  W.  a  migratory  work- 
ers' organization,  or  is  it  not? 

Walsh  (disgusted) :  Christ  Scissorbill,  you  won't  eve^ 
join  when  you  do  find  out.  A  Scissorbill  is  an  excm 
for  a  human  being  who  is  always  looking  for  a 
excuse  for  not  being  human. 

Hammond  (rushing  in):  That  was  some  metaphysic 
for  an  Irishman,  Jack.  But  it  doesn't  answer  Scisso: 
bill's  question.  I  may  say  that  Scissorbill's  questioi^ 
has  been  answered,  indirectly,  by  what  we  have  been 
telling  him.  The  1.  W.  W.  has  had  all  kinds  of 
strikes,  with  all  kinds  of  strikers;  lumber  jacks,  har- 
vest workers,  hotel  and  restaurant  workers,  miners, 
steel  workers,  metal  workers,  machinists,  silk  weavers, 
,  seamen,  longshoremen,  textilers,  clothing  makers,  shoe 
makers,  and  Lord  knows  what  not.  The  I.  W.  W.  is  not 
a  caste,  but  a  working  class,  organization.  It  is  a 
home  guard  organization,  as  well  as  an  organization 
of  itinerant  workers.  Hoboes,  migratory  workers, 
and  Scissorbills  are  alike  welcome  to  membership, 
provided  that  they  are  actually  wage  earners.  Will 
you  join  now.  Scissor? 

Scissorbill  (squirming) :  I'll, — I'll  have  to  talk  it  over 
with  my  wife  first 

Hammond  (quickly,  to  head  off  Walsh) :  Get  her  to  join, 
too,  Scissor.  All  workers,  regardless  of  sex,  color, 
religion  or  age,  previous  or  present  condition  of  servi- 
tude, and  trade  classifications,  are  welcome. 

THE  I.  W.  W.  OUTLOOK 

Scissorbill  (still  looking  for  excuses) :  What  is  the  out- 
look for  the  I.  W.  W.?  I  don't  want  to  join  any  or- 
ganization that  hasn't  any  chance  of  growing. 

Hammond  (delighted) :  The  outlook  was  never  better. 
The  I.  W.  W.  has  weathered  the  industrial  depression 
as  well  as  the  war.  That  speaks  volumes  for  its 
strength.  Industry  in  general,  is  entering  a  new  era 
of  consolidation,  both  at  home  and  abroad.  The  open 
shop  drive  has  exposed  the  weaknesses  of  trade 


30 


unionism.  It  has  caused  the  workers  to  seek  better 
unionism.  It  has  caused  the  workers  to  turn  to  the 
I.  W.  W.  These  conditions  will  give  the  I.  W.  W.  an 
opportunity  to  grow  at  home  and  abroad.  It  is 
already  beginning  to  grow !  Come  on  join  us,  Scissor- 
bill.  Don't  delay!  Do  it  now.  Become  a  part  of  the 
great  history  and  possibilities  of  the  I.  W.  W. 

Scissorbill  (with  emotion) :  By  God!  I  will.  And  so  will 
my  wife  and  the  whole  family. 

Walsh,  Hammond,  Morrison  (enthusiastically) :  Bully 
for  you,  Scissorbill.  Hurray  for  Scissorbill.  He  has 
joined  the  I.  W.  W.  Its  history  now  begins  in  earnest 
for  him. 


THE  END 


31 


The  Only  Magazine  in  America 
That  Is  Of,  For  and  By  the 
Workers 


The 


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